Trial of Egypt's Mubarak set to resume

The second hearing in the new trial of Egypt's fallen dictator Hosni Mubarak takes place Saturday, after he successfully appealed against a life sentence for complicity in the deaths of protesters. Mubarak and seven senior security chiefs are charged with incitement in the killings of protesters who rose up against him. Along with his two sons, Mubarak is also charged with corruption. The former strongman had been sentenced to life in prison by a previous court, but an appeals court ordered a retrial, citing procedural failures. In his second, and latest, trial, which started in May, the 85-year-old appeared in good health when he was wheeled into the makeshift court in a police academy lecture hall outside Cairo. His retrial had been due to begin in April, but the judge in that instance recused himself in a hearing that lasted just seconds. All of the defendants pleaded have "not guilty" to the charges levelled against them. In the trial's opening session on May 11, Judge Mahmoud al-Rashidi issued an emotional appeal for order, saying he understood "frustration" with the process. Amid a raucous start to proceedings, lawyers for the victims' families taunted Mubarak's sons Alaa and Gamal, as they stood in the dock with chants of "The people want the execution of the murderer." Rashidi confirmed that there would be new evidence presented in the case, which now includes 55,000 pages of documents and adjourned the hearing to June 8. Egyptians remain polarised by the legacy of the former leader, as the country struggles to move forward under the new regime of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, elected in June last year. Today Egypt remains in disarray, with Morsi's tenure marked by political division, repeated violence and a crippling economic crisis.