Egypt bans broadcasting of Mubarak aides' trial
The ban is the second by an Egyptian court since state television started to broadcast live the trials of officials from the Mubarak regime in May
Cairo: An Egyptian court Sunday ordered a ban on the television transmission of a trial for 25 ex-officials, including two aides of former president Hosni Mubarak, who are charged with inciting a deadly attack on protesters earlier this year.
"The live broadcasting of the trial will be stopped until a verdict is issued," Hassan Abdullah, the presiding judge of the Cairo Criminal Court, said. "This decision is taken for public interests," he added.
The ban is the second by an Egyptian court since state television started to broadcast live the trials of officials from the Mubarak regime in May. On August 15, a court, trying Mubarak, his two sons, former interior minister Habib Al Adly and six senior policemen, banned airing the hearing sessions.
Mubarak's close associates, Safwat Al Sherif and Fat'hi Surour, appeared Sunday in the dock along with 23 other defendants in the first session of their trial in a case locally known as the "Battle of the Camel".
They are accused of hiring thugs and using terror on February 1 and 2 to evict anti-Mubarak protesters from Tahrir Square, which was the epicentre of a popular uprising against the former president.
An unspecified number of people were killed and injured in the assault carried out by knife-wielding assailants who rode camels and horses.
The defendants also include former minister of manpower Aisha Abdul Hadi; business tycoon Mohammad Abul Einen who was a senior politician in Mubarak's political party; and Murtada Mansour, a former judge. They all pleaded not guilty.
