Mubarak retrial adjourned to August 17

A cut-out of Silvio Berlusconi (L) is seen next to a picture of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, during a demonstration against Berlusconi's seven-year jail sentence in downtown Rome June 25, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

CAIRO - The Cairo Criminal Court on Saturday decided to postpone until August 17 the retrial of Egypt's ex- president Hosni Mubarak, his two sons, former interior minister and six of his aides over killing protesters during the 2011 unrest.

In the televised fourth session of the retrial which was held in Court Complex in new Cairo, presiding judge Mahmoud Kamel decided to allow the defense more time to review recently- presented evidence.

He also asked the prosecution to submit official reports on a cabinet meeting held on January 22, 2011 which discussed ways of dealing with protesters during the unrest.

Kamel said he has received the case four months ago and that the staff had studied numerous files on it.

He called the media as "the eye of justice," asking TV channels to broadcast a CD including all the names of the victims during the uprising.

The hearing comes just three days after Mubarak's successor Mohamed Morsi was himself toppled by the armed forces and amid clashes on the streets between Morsi's supporters and opponents.

On June 20, an Egyptian court decided to release Mubarak over investigations of illicit gains. Similarly, in mid-April, a court decided to temporarily release Mubarak over responsibility of killing protesters in the January 2011 upheaval that led to his downfall.

However, the ex-president will have to stay in custody over other charges, mainly the looting of public funds allocated for the maintenance of presidential palaces.