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Egypt allows 5 Kuwaiti lawyers to defend Mubarak

06 September 2011 21:09 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Egyptian Justice Minister Mohamed el- Gendi on Tuesday issued permission to five Kuwaiti lawyers to join the defending team of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The ministry of justice sent its approval of a request submitted by Kuwaiti lawyers to Abdel Aziz Omar, Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal, to finish the required procedures and to send a notice for Judge Ahmed Refaat, who presided over Mubarak’s trial, official MENA news agency reported Tuesday.

The Kuwaiti lawyers arrived in Cairo on Saturday to attend Mubarak’s trial and defend the former Egyptian leader as a way to show their gratitude to his support to Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion in 1990. But they did not get the legal permission to attend the third session of Mubarak’s trial on Monday.

During Monday’s session, four witnesses testified against Mubarak at the court for the first time. But they gave no evidences that Mubarak ordered the killing of protesters.

The fourth session of the trial will be held on Wednesday. The Egyptian Gazette newspaper had reported that ten Kuwaiti lawyers would defend Mubarak, making the total number of the volunteer lawyers team around 1,700.

Mubarak resigned on Feb. 11 after 18 days of mass protests against his three-decade rule. He had appeared twice in court last month, facing charges of corruption and murder, which he had all denied.