Judge puts a stop to live coverage of Mubarak trial

“The court has decided to halt the live transmission of the trial sessions starting from September 5 until a verdict is issued,” the presiding judge Ahmad Refaat said after a 50-minute break in the high-profile trial.State television showed live Monday’s session and the opening session held on August 3.Upon a request from lawyers for families of protesters killed in an anti-revolt earlier this year, Refaat ordered that the trial involving Mubarak and that of former interior minister Habib Al Adly be re-merged.Mubarak and Al Adly will stand trial on September 5 on charges of ordering the killing of around 850 people during the revolt that eventually toppled Mubarak in February.Mubarak, 83, appeared in Monday procedural session lying on a hospital in a makeshift courtroom in the Police Academy outside Cairo.Standing beside him were his two sons, Ala’a and Jamal. They are accused of wasting public money and corruption.The trial also involves Hussain Salem, a fugitive businessman, accused of brokering a dubious deal to export Egyptian gas to Israel at prices lower than the market value.