CAIRO (AlArabiya.net, AFP)
As media focused on the trial of the Egyptian tycoon accused of ordering the murder of a Lebanese pop singer, an Egyptian court ordered a media blackout on Sunday "forbidding" any media outlet to publish details of the hearings.
The trial of Hisham Talaat Mustafa, a stalwart of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party, is a juicy story that mixes sex, politics, wealth and show business and has grabbed the Arab media's attention since the shocking news of Suzanne Tamim's brutal murder in her Dubai home broke.
Egypt's media are banned from reporting details about the trial and can only report court decisions such as adjournment of hearings or the verdict, a court official who asked not to be named told AFP.
Mohammadi Qunsua, presiding in the Cairo court, decided to "forbid media to publish (any item) related to the trial or to report details of the hearings," she said. |
 |
Rare justice Jamal (L) and Housni Mubarak (R) The trial, which has brought the ruling party under fire for its links to Mustafa, has sparked a media frenzy in Egypt where powerful businessmen are rarely seen to face justice.
The UAE daily Gulf News reported that prosecutors have requested the court summon Jamal Mubarak, son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as well as the incumbent Minister of Interior.
Mustafa's lawyer said the Dubai police investigators should be summoned as well as the residents of the apartment block that she lived in, the paper reported, adding the lawyer questioned the authenticity of the investigation in Dubai.
Mustafa is accused of paying a retired policeman, Mohsen al-Sukkari, $2 million to kill Tamim, 30, whose throat was cut in a luxury Dubai apartment in July. If convicted, the two men could face the death penalty.
Mustafa denied conspiracy to murder and the former policemen has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge.
The court yesterday reviewed evidence of the case including the handbag which allegedly carried the payment and which bore Moustafa’s first two initials. Other evidence show included a gun and clothes that el-Sukkari allegedly wore at the crime scene.
Last week Egyptian newspapers published transcripts of phone conversations and text messages between the two defendants that contained damming evidence the two men had conspired to kill Tamim.
Egyptian media said Tamim had a relationship with Mustafa over a three-year period that ended several months before her death.
The singer was found dead in the apartment on July 28 with her throat slit and several stab wounds in her body. |
