Egypt minister pleads not guilty over protester deaths

Egyptian ex-interior minister Habib Al-Adly Egyptian ex-interior minister Habib al-Adly pleaded not guilty as he went on trial in Cairo Tuesday accused of ordering the shooting of demonstrators

during protests that toppled the former regime.
Adly and six former aides made a brief appearance in a packed Cairo courthouse before Judge Adel Abdelsalam Gomaa, who postponed the trial until May 21 to allow more time for defence lawyers as well for legal experts acting for families of victims.
All pleaded not guilty, according to lawyers who were at the trial.
The former minister is accused of having ordered security forces to fire on demonstrators and is held responsible for insecurity that prevailed after police disappeared from the streets of Cairo in the early days of the protests.
According to an official toll, 846 people were killed and several thousand wounded during 18 days of massive nationwide street protests that forced president Hosni Mubarak to quit on February 11.
Around 50 people, including family members of slain protesters, staged a demonstration outside the court, shouting, \"Death penalty for Adly! That dog must be immediately executed!\"
The court was placed under high security, with truckloads of riot police and army tanks stationed outside the building.
Inside, the court was crowded with noisy spectators, with those unable to secure a place inside banging on the doors to be let in.
The much reviled Adly was also the first member of Mubarak\'s regime to be put on trial in another case of embezzlement, in which he has pleaded not guilty.
The removal of Adly from office was one of the chief demands of protesters when they launched the revolution against Mubarak\'s regime on January 25.
Adly, along with a German businessman and former finance minister Yussef Boutros-Ghali, is also accused of illegally profiteering from a deal to import new vehicle number plates which they allegedly bought directly without a public tender as required by law.
Two former Egyptian ministers, Sameh Fahmi and Mahmud Latif, are also to face trial accused of selling natural gas to Israel at below market prices, leading to a loss of revenue to the state of 714 million dollars.
Mubarak is in detention at a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after suffering a heart attack during interrogation.
He is being investigated by prosecutors in connection with the violent suppression of the uprising as well as for allegations of corruption.
Mubarak\'s two sons, Alaa and Gamal, are in the Tora prison complex in the capital, and face similar charges.
The brothers are also accused of forcing businessmen to give them a cut in local partnerships with foreign companies.
The Tora prison complex, once home to political prisoners, now hosts a growing number of former regime officials, including Mubarak\'s former chief of staff Zakariah Azmy and his former party\'s leadership.
Nationwide anti-regime protests that erupted on January 25 ended Mubarak\'s 30-year reign of the Arab world\'s most populous country and saw power transferred to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which vowed to bring to justice all those found guilty of abuse.

Ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak cannot be transferred to a military hospital as expected given his poor state of health, the attorney general said on Tuesday, citing the interior ministry.
Mubarak is under hospital arrest in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and had been due to be transferred to a military hospital following a medical examination.
But the prosecution said it had been told by Interior Minister Mansur Essawy that Mubarak\'s health status \"indicated the need for continuous monitoring which is only available in hospitals with highly skilled personnel and equipment... which does not currently allow his transfer.\"
Mubarak, who was forced to resign on February 11 after 18 days of street protests, suffered from a problem that could cause his heart to stop suddenly, it cited the minister as saying.
The 82-year-old has been at an international hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh since April 12.
Prosecutor Abdel Maguid Mahmud\'s office had said on Sunday that a medical team he sent to the hospital determined Mubarak was \"in stable condition with medical treatment.\"
Mahmud \"tasked the interior minister to expedite preparations in the hospital\" of Tora prison, where Mubarak\'s two sons and a growing number of former regime officials have been detained, it said in a statement.
The hospital would need intensive care facilities to deal with any sudden deterioration of Mubarak\'s heart condition, it said, adding the preparations could take one month.
Mubarak is being held in connection with violence against protesters during anti-regime rallies that ended his 30-year grip on power. He is also being questioned on corruption charges.
His detention has been extended by 15 days, until mid-May, as part of the investigation into the bloody crackdown.
The detention of his two sons, Gamal and Alaa, was also extended by 15 days, the attorney general said in a statement.
Both were interviewed on Tuesday on charges that they forced businessmen to include them as partners in deals with foreign companies, as well as over the controversial sale of Egyptian gas to Israel, the statement said.