(AFP File Photo)
by Youssef Aziz
The Cairo Criminal Court on Saturday heard testimony from former interior minister Habib Al-Adly defending himself in a trial over his involvement in the killing of protesters during the 25 January Revolution. Former president Hosni Mubarak, on trial in the same case, missed the trial due to health issues.
“I never gave orders to kill,” he said in his defence. “I gave strict rules to sticking to water and gas only to disperse the sit-in.”
“The whole plot against Egypt was planned by foreigners such as Hamas to take place in the ‘Arab Spring’ in cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood to take over the country. The plot had its strategies and goals,” said Al-Adly.
The former interior minister said the police killed protesters “under suspicion of terrorism” after the protesters had allegedly smuggled ammunition into the country from Palestine. The protesters also stole police clothes, he claimed.
Al-Adly added that the Muslim Brotherhood “never represented a threat to the police as they were aware of their numbers”, adding that the now banned group was “not good at planning, but they are good executors.”
