CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's former top security official has pleaded innocent to charges of ordering the killing unarmed protesters during the Jan. 25-Feb. 11 uprising that ousted longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.
Former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly could face a death sentence if convicted.
His trial, along with six of his top aides, opened Tuesday at a courthouse in a Cairo suburb amid tight security. Some 1,000 relatives of the nearly 850 Egyptians killed in the protests demonstrated outside the courthouse to demand that they be allowed inside.
Relatives of the defendants and dozens of defense lawyers packed the courtroom.
El-Adly was one of the most powerful men under Mubarak, controlling the estimated half million security forces. His trial will resume May 21.
