Egypt changes Mubarak trial venue

31 July 2011 Last updated at 01:50 GMT Hosni Mubarak is currently in a hospital in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh Egyptian authorities say the trial of deposed President Hosni Mubarak's trial will be moved from a Cairo convention centre, for security reasons.

The trial, due to open on Wednesday, will now be held at a police academy further from the city centre.

Mr Mubarak, 83, has been under arrest at a hospital in the coastal resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh since April.

He is charged with corruption and ordering the killing of protesters before he was toppled in February.

Appeals court president Abdel Aziz Omar said Mr Mubarak's trial was being moved "because it is difficult to guarantee the protection of the other place".

The police academy auditorium where the trial will now be held can hold 600 people, Assistant Justice Minister Mohammed Munie told Egypt's Mena news agency.

A cage for the defendants has already been prepared, he said.

Protesters still demonstrating in Egypt have made swift prosecution of officials from the former regime a key demand.

Family trial

Doctors have said Mr Mubarak's condition is poor, that he has lost weight from refusing food and is suffering from depression. But the government has said he is well enough to be moved to Cairo for trial.

Mr Mubarak is expected to be tried alongside his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly, as well as six senior police officials.

Adly has already been sentenced to 12 years in jail for corruption.

The justice minister has said Mr Mubarak could face the death penalty if found guilty of murder.

Mr Mubarak was deposed on 11 February, after 18 days of mass demonstrations in which some 850 people were killed.

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Mubarak 'has got stomach cancer'

20 June 2011 Last updated at 16:21 GMT Mr Mubarak is due to go on trial on 3 August charged with the killing of protesters Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is due to stand trial in August, is suffering from stomach cancer, his lawyer has said.

"He has a stomach cancer and the tumours are growing," lawyer Farid el-Deeb said.

The former leader is in custody at a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after reportedly having heart problems during earlier questioning.

He is charged with the deaths of protesters during Egypt's uprising.

Last month, officials said he was too sick to be moved from hospital to prison while he awaited trial, because his heart condition put him at risk of a sudden attack.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says Mr Deeb has told some reporters that Mr Mubarak has had cancer, but to others he has said that the former leader is suffering from symptoms which could be cancer.

Our correspondent says that many in Egypt will treat the report with deep scepticism.

Surgeon visit request

Mr Deeb said Mubarak underwent "critical surgery" in Germany last year, during which his gallbladder and part of his pancreas were removed.

He said he has asked Egypt's prosecutor-general to allow the German surgeon to visit Mr Mubarak for a medical check-up.

The request had been referred to Egypt's ruling military council, he said, but no decision had been made yet.

There had been rumours about Mr Mubarak's health during his rule, but government officials always denied he had any serious illness.

Along with his sons Alaa and Gamal, Mr Mubarak has been charged with "premeditated murder" of some participants in the protests, charges he denies. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty.

Hundreds of people died in 18 days of revolt against Mr Mubarak, who lost power in February after ruling for almost three decades.

The former leader is also being questioned over charges that he and his family made huge profits during the three decades he spent as Egyptian president.

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