The North Bank Evening Standard [TNBES]: Mubarak's re-trial suffers setback

Hosni Mubarak is apparently traumatized by his ordeal and has fallen sick since his ousting (Photo credit: AFP)

Mubarak's re-trial on Saturday suffers a setback after the trail judge rescued himself from the case.

Judge Mustafa Hassan Abdullah who referred the trial to a lower court, took away with him other judicial officials of the bench. Media reports say the judge's decision is based on medical grounds.

Mubarak was flown to court and arrived on a stretcher.

The re-trial of Egypt's erstwhile president Hosni Mubarak, 84, followed new charges linked to the killings of protesters during the revolution that toppled him in 2011.

Mubarak, who ruled the north African country for nearly three decades, is charged along his two sons and a former interior minister, Habib al-Adly.

In June 2012. Mubarak and al-Adly were earlier found guilty of failing to prevent the killings of protesters and were handed life jail time by a Cairo court.

His two sons, Gamal and Alaa, will be retried on corruption charges. They were acquitted on the same charges in June last year.

Families of victims of the revolution were enraged by the court's decision to discharge some security officers, and call for justice.

Written by Modou S. Joof