Egyptian court postpones Mubarak's trial

Egypt's Cassation Court on Thursday postponed the trial of former president Hosni Mubarak over the killing of protesters in January 2011, reported the state-run MENA news agency.

The trial, the third and final one, was postponed to Jan. 21, 2016, just days before the anniversary of the start of the 2011 upheavals.

This constitutes the third time the case is heard in court since Mubarak was deposed in 2011. However, this time Mubarak faces the court alone as all other defendants were acquitted.

The postponement was due to the need to relocate Mubarak's retrial at the Cassation Court, located in downtown Cairo, MENA said.

During Thursday's session, which began without Mubarak's presence, the judge read a note sent by the Maadi Armed Forces Hospital, where Mubarak is serving a jail sentence over corruption charges, saying Mubarak could not stand trial due to his poor health.

The hospital said Mubarak recently underwent a surgical procedure.

Furthermore, the judge cited an Interior Ministry memo stressing its inability to bring Mubarak to the downtown court, due to security reasons.

The 87-year-old former president, initially handed a life sentence in 2012, over charges of conspiring to kill 239 protestors, inciting chaos and masterminding a security vacuum during the 18-day-long uprising.

A subsequent retrial ordered by an appeals court resulted in the acquittal of Mubarak and other co-defendants.

Mubarak's acquittal, however, was again appealed, this time by the Public Prosecution, and a new retrial was ordered. Endit