Ousted president Hosni Mubarak has denied all charges of corruption and complicity in killing protesters during Egypt's uprising after a court detailed the allegations against him at the opening session of his trial. He was wheeled into a courtroom cage in a hospital bed Wednesday . Judge Ahmed Refaat called for quiet when he entered the court to start the trial at Cairo's police academy. Mubarak's two sons, Alaa and Gamal, also on trial, were dressed in the white outfits of defendants. Ahmed Farghali, among protesters who had gathered outside the hospital in Sharm El-Sheikh from where Mubarak was flown to Cairo, said he could not believe he would see the president locked in a cage. “It was beyond my wildest dreams,” he said. Speculation had swirled in the hours before the trial about whether the frail 83-year-old, hospitalized in the Red Sea resort Sea since April, would turn up in the Cairo court. Mubarak's trial is unprecedented. He was driven from office by his people and they are holding him to account in a way that will send a stark message to other Arab rulers facing unrest. Wednesday's court session may be over quickly with charges read and pleas recorded. Legal experts say comments by Judge Refaat before the trial suggested there might be daily sessions after this to ensure a swift verdict. Police patrolled the street near Mubarak's hospital and barred the way to a small group of protesters outside, chanting: “The people want the execution of the killer.” Outside the court site on the outskirts of Cairo, a screen was erected to show the trial. Pro- and anti-Mubarak protesters faced off. Some in the two groups hurled stones at each other. Hundreds of police outside intervened to calm them down. A small pro-Mubarak rally of men, women and children chanted: “Oh Mubarak hold your head high” and “We will demolish the prison and burn it down, if Hosni Mubarak is sentenced.” Nearby another group against Mubarak chanted: “Raise your voice, Freedom will not die.” Mubarak was on trial with his two sons Gamal, a banker-turned-politician once seen as being groomed for the top office, and Alaa, who had business interests, as well as former Interior Minister Habib al-Adli and six senior officers. A business executive and Mubarak confidant, Hussein Salem, is being tried in absentia. Charges range from conspiring in the killing of protesters to abusing power to amass wealth. Security was tightened in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Police and military officers in riot gear were deployed there, with dozens of police trucks and a few army armoured personnel vehicles. Protesters had camped out in Tahrir for three weeks in July seeking a swifter trial for Mubarak and other reforms.
