Mubarak trial hears testimony authorities ordered use of force

Egyptian authorities ordered the use of force against demonstrators during the first days of the uprising that forced Hosni Mubarak from power, a former official said at the trial of the ex-president.

Hassan Abdel Hamid, previously first assistant to the minister of interior during the uprising, said he attended a meeting chaired by former Interior Minister Habib El Adli, a co- defendant alongside Mubarak, on Jan. 27, two days after the revolt broke out.

Officials discussed how to deal with mass protests planned for the following day, and “the decision was to stop protesters from entering Tahrir Square, even if by using force,” Hamid told the Cairo court. “Force could be through using tear gas, shields, helmets, batons.”

Mubarak, who has attended hearings in a hospital bed since the case began a month ago, has pleaded not guilty to charges that include corruption and conspiracy to kill protesters. At least 846 people died during the revolt that ended his three decades of rule and inspired opposition movements throughout the Middle East.

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the former defense minister who heads the army council that took over from Mubarak, and ex-Vice President Omar Suleiman are due to testify next week along with other army and political leaders, Judge Ahmed Refaat said yesterday. Those sessions will be closed to reporters.

Decision to Fire?

“The main key to the case is to answer one question: Was there a decision issued by the political leadership to fire at the protesters or not?” said Nasser Amin, director of the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession. “The answer to this question can only be reached through those who were the decision-makers at the time.”

In today’s hearing, Abdel Hamid said that El Adli gave instructions during the meeting for communications networks to be shut down, to disrupt the planning of protests. He said he didn’t know what weapons were provided to security forces, though “without a doubt some officers, I don’t know whether by orders or not, provided their forces with birdshot rounds.”

Essam Hosni Abbas, a police official, said it was clear that “all the injuries and deaths were the result of using weapons” and that these came from the police. El-Adli said that Abbas’s testimony “runs contrary to the facts.”