Cairo: The trial of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in the killing of pro-democracy protesters has been postponed till the end of December over demands that the judges presiding over the case be replaced.
The Cairo criminal court, headed by Counsellor Ahmad Refat, decided to postpone till December 28, the case in which Mubarak is accused along with his two sons Ala and Gamal, businessman Hussein Salem, former interior minister Habib al-Adly and six of his assistants.
Mamduh Ismail, one of the lawyers for the plaintiff families of the protesters, said the session was only a minute long.
Mubarak and others are on trial for allegedly ordering the killing of protesters in the 18-day pro-democracy movement that toppled the former president in February.
The case was postponed to allow the Appeals Court to consider a petition made by the plaintiffs, demanding that the panel of judges in the trial, headed by Refaat, be replaced, local daily Al-Masry Al-Youm said.
However, the paper said that the Appeals Court judges who received the request excused themselves from considering the demand, notifying the court's president of their decision.
Some of the lawyers of the plaintiffs have demanded changes to the panel saying it had not given them sufficient time to question Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the chief of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, and a key witness in the case.
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