Court to review demand to drop Mubarak judge

Members of the special forces stand guard Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak lies on a bed while being taken to the courtroom at the police academy in Cairo September 7, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

CAIRO - An Egyptian court said on Tuesday it would review proceedings of the trial of Hosni Mubarak to rule on a request to change the panel presiding over the case of the ousted president, who is charged with conspiring to kill protesters.

Some lawyers representing families of those killed in the uprising demanded the panel be changed after complaining about the handling of testimony given by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who heads the army council ruling Egypt.

Lawyers had complained after Tantawi's testimony on Saturday that the session had started earlier than scheduled and that they had not been informed of that and were not given an opportunity to cross-examine him.  

The appeals court on Tuesday adjourned its hearing until October 22 saying it needed to review the minutes of Mubarak's trial to check the "legality of the court's proceedings."

Mubarak's trial is now on hold until October 30, a delay that will add to public frustrations about the pace of the trial.