CAIRO - The trial of ousted president Hosni Mubarak along with his two sons, former Habib el-Adli and his six aides was on Wednesday adjourned to January 2. Mubarak and his sons are charges with giving orders to kill protesters in Tahrir Square during January 25 Revolution. Six former interior ministry officials face similar charges. Mubarak will be sentenced for life, if he is found to have been complicit in the killings of some 850 people who died during protests that overthrew him in February. The ailing former president arrived by ambulance at the Police Academy and was wheeled out by stretcher into the courtroom. the Interior Ministry deployed about 5,000 policemen to secure the trial at the academy in New Cairo, in coordination with the army. Another accused people also arrived in court. It was reported that some martyrs' families gathered outside the court, whaler several pro-Mubarak supporters held banners of the former president. "The trial is a sham and the gang still rules," the families chanted. The trial came to a halt when lawyers asked that presiding judge Ahmed Refaat be replaced, a request that was subsequently rejected on December 7. Mubarak's first hearing on August 3 was broadcast live on television, but Refaat soon ordered the cameras out.
