Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, lying ashen-faced on a hospital bed inside a metal cage, denied charges of corruption and complicity in the killing of protesters at the start of his trial on Wednesday.
In the courtroom, a prosecutor read the charges against Mubarak — that he was an accomplice along with his then-interior minister in the "intentional and premeditated murder of peaceful protesters" and that he and his sons received gifts from a prominent businessman in return for guaranteeing him a lowered price in a land deal with the state.
"Yes, I am here," Mubarak said from his bed, raising his hand slightly when the judge asked him to identify himself and enter a plea. "I deny all these accusations completely," he said into a microphone, wagging his finger. His sons also pleaded not guilty.
Mubarak, a sheet pulled up to his chest, was wheeled into the cage on a hospital bed at the session's start. Though he was pale and his eyes were ringed with red, he appeared alert and aware of what was going on. He showed little discernible emotion. With him in the cage were his nine co-defendants, including his two sons — one-time heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa — his former interior minister Habib el-Adly, and six top former police officials.
From time to time, Mubarak craned his head to see the proceedings. Other times, he crooked his elbow over his face as if in exhaustion. While the other defendants sat on wooden benches in the cage, the 47-year-old Gamal and 49-year-old Alaa in their white prison uniforms stood next to their father's bed, at one point with their arms crossed on their chest seemingly trying to block the court camera's view of their father. The two sons each carried a copy of the Quran and leaned over to talk to their father.
The courtroom itself was divided. Relatives of the defendants sat near the cage. A fence running through the middle of the chamber divided them from the rest of the audience of around 300 people, including a few relatives of protesters killed in the uprising, kept far enough that they cannot shout or throw anything at the former leader.
During the session, Mubarak's lawyer filed a motion that Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi — the head of the council of generals that now runs Egypt — be called to testify in the trial. He argued that Tantawi was in control of security after Jan. 28, three days into the protests. The motion signals an attempt by the defense to drag the military into the case.
After several hours, the judge adjourned Mubarak and his sons' trial until Aug. 15, though hearings in el-Adly's case would continue Thursday. The judge ordered Mubarak held at the International Medical Center, a military hospital on the outskirts of Cairo, and that an oncologist be among the doctors monitoring him. That was one of the strongest indications yet that the 83-year-old Mubarak has cancer after months of unconfirmed reports.
Outside the Cairo police academy where the trial was being held, hundreds of his opponents and angry supporters scuffled. In a chaotic scene, hundreds of policemen in gleaming white uniforms and riot police with shields and helmets separated demonstrators hurling stones and bottles at each other.
Police also patrolled the street near the hospital where Mubarak had been held under house arrest and barred the way to a small group of protesters who chanted: "The people want the execution of the killer."
Torture, corruption
The demonstrations were a sign of the profound emotions stirred by the unprecedented prosecution of the man who ruled Egypt with unquestioned power for 29 years until he was toppled in February by an 18-day uprising. For many Egyptians, the trial is a chance at retribution for decades of oppressive rule in which opponents were tortured, corruption was rife, poverty spread and political life was stifled. But for others, he was a symbol of stability.
Security was extremely heavy outside the courtroom, set up in a lecture hall at what was once named the Mubarak Police Academy in the capital Cairo. Early in the morning, some 50 of Mubarak's supporters chanting slogans and holding portraits of the former leader gathered outside the venue.
"We will demolish and burn the prison if they convict Mubarak," they screamed at hundreds of police and army troops backed by armored personnel carriers.
The pro-Mubarak protesters threw stones toward a giant screen set up outside the police academy, though a police cordon kept them a distance away.
Anti-Mubarak protesters held up shoes at the screen in a sign of contempt for the ousted president.
For the president's opponents, it was an unbelievable moment.
"I have many feelings. I am happy, satisfied. I feel this a real success for the revolution, and I feel that the moment of real retribution is near," Mostafa el-Naggar, one of the leading youth activists who organized the anti-Mubarak uprising and a member of one of Egypt's newest parties, Justice, said after Mubarak's arrival at the venue.
"This is a moment no Egyptian ever thought was possible."
The trial answered, at least partially, a growing clamor in Egypt for justice not only for the wrongs of Mubarak's authoritarian regime but also for the violent suppression of the largely peaceful uprising, in which 850 protesters were killed. It came only after heavy pressure by activists on the now ruling military — one of the few demands that still unites the disparate protest movement.
Near Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the protesters, a dozen people swarmed around newspapers at a stand, reading headlines about the trial. One man spit on a picture of Mubarak on a front page.
"When he is in the cage and we know he is there, then we know we have started to put our feet on the path of justice," said the newspaper seller, Nabil Hassan, 65. "If he and his accomplices are in court, he becomes one of the people no different from anyone else facing justice. I have faith in Egyptian judges."
The unprecedented trial sent a stark message to other Arab rulers facing unrest.
Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, the first Arab leader to be ousted in the Arab Spring, was tried and sentenced to jail in absentia. He fled to Saudi Arabia. Iraq's Saddam Hussein was ousted by U.S.-led forces and then tried.
Before giving up power, as protests raged around him, Mubarak vowed he would die on Egyptian soil. After his fall, he fled to one of his residences in Sharm el-Sheikh. In April, he was moved to a hospital there and placed under arrest as he underwent treatment. Doctors say he suffers from heart problems. There had been skepticism up to the moment Mubarak left the hospital for the airport in a six-car convoy that he would actually appear for the opening of his trial.
He was flown by helicopter from Sharm directly to the police academy for the trial Wednesday morning.
Mubarak, his former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly, and six top police officers are charged with murder and attempted murder in connection with the protesters killed during the uprising, according to the official charge sheet. All eight could face the death penalty if convicted.
Separately, Mubarak and his two sons — one-time heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa — face charges of corruption. The two sets of charges have been lumped together in one mass trial.
For weeks after his fall, while Mubarak lived in a palace in Sharm el-Sheikh, the ruling generals who took power from him — and who were all appointed by Mubarak before the uprising — appeared reluctant to prosecute him.
Their hand forced, the generals now seem eager to show the public that they are bringing the fruits of the revolution. The trial is being televised live on state TV, and judges have said proceedings would be expedited, without long postponements.
Up until Mubarak was moved from his hospital early Wednesday morning, there had been heavy skepticism that he would actually show. It was thought that he might be exempted for health reasons, after weeks of reports of his worsening condition from the Sharm hospital where he has been held in custody.
If he had not shown, it could have triggered another upheaval of rancorous protests.
For the military, the trial is a chance to try to strengthen its position.
Faltering economy
The broader public has grown discontented with the breakdown in security around the country and faltering economy since the uprising began.
Youth groups that led the uprising have continued protests against the military, saying they are fumbling the transition to civilian rule and have not moved to dismantle remnants of Mubarak's regime still in place. The military itself has been tainted by reports of human rights violations, including torture.
The generals have tried to turn the public against activists, accusing them of receiving foreign funds and training. On Monday, tensions were hiked when troops broke up a 3-week-old sit-in in Tahrir Square by hard-core protesters.
Prosecuting Mubarak is widely popular among a public angered by widespread corruption, police abuses and his lock on political power. Regime opponents, whether Islamists or pro-democracy activists, are eager for retribution after years of crackdowns and torture against them.
The question is whether it will mean a real uprooting of the system he headed.