Mubarak's retrial abruptly halted by health scare

The retrial of Egypt's longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak on charges of killing protesters during the 2011 revolution was today halted by a sudden health scare, according to a media report.
The 85-year-old, who was deposed in February 2011, had suffered high blood pressure, Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.
Mubarak, his former interior minister Habib Al-Adly and six top security aides were acquitted of the charges in January last year on procedural grounds after being convicted in June 2012 following his first trial.
The retrial was scheduled to include testimony by the former head of the military police, Hamdy Badeen.
Mubarak was treated in 2010 for cancer of the gallbladder and pancreas.

Omar Badawi, chief executive of the national telecommunications regulatory authority, has been called for his testimony on the communications blackout imposed during opening days of the revolution.

During the last hearing of the case on January 12, veteran journalist Ibrahim Eissa, a onetime staunch opponent of Mubarak, testified on the events of January 25, 2011, the day the uprising broke out that led to the overthrow of the former president.
Following their conviction in the first trial, Mubarak and Al-Adly were sentenced to life in prison.
Mubarak has been in a military hospital in Cairo since he was freed from prison in August after the maximum pre-trial detention period expired.

He and his two sons Alaa and Gamal also face charges of alleged embezzlement of 125 million Egyptian pounds (USD 18 million) earmarked for presidential palaces. That trial will start on February 19.
Alaa and Gamal are already on trial with their father in the murder and corruption case, along with seven of Mubarak's former security commanders.
Egypt has been gripped by political turmoil since the overthrow of Mubarak and later under its first democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Morsi's term was plagued by political uncertainty and violence in a deeply polarised country that ultimately led to his ouster by the powerful military on July 3 following mass protests against his rule.