Sight of bed-ridden, caged Mubarak on trial stuns Egyptians
CAIRO (AP) - The sight of their former president caged and bed-ridden has stunned many Egyptians today and left others pleased.
An ashen-faced Hosni Mubarak appeared in court today, on a hospital bed inside a metal defendants' cage, flanked by nine co-defendants, including his two sons. Wagging a finger, the 83-year-old Mubarak denied charges of corruption and complicity in the killing of protesters during the uprising that brought an end to his rule earlier this year.
The spectacle was aired live on state television, and crowds that were gathered outside the heavily secured Cairo police academy where the trial is being held watched on a giant screen. Scuffles broke out between Mubarak supporters and relatives of slain protesters, as riot police tried to keep the two sides separated.
The mother of a 17-year-old girl shot to death during the uprising called it a "dream" to see Mubarak humiliated.
Today's court proceedings were largely procedural. The judge adjourned the trial of Mubarak and his sons until Aug. 15. He ordered the former president be held at a military hospital on the outskirts of Cairo and that an oncologist be part of the medical team.
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