Cairo criminal court adjourned on Saturday the trial of Ahmed Douma and 268 others to 18 October.

They are accused of attacking the cabinet building and security personnel in December 2011.

They are also accused of torching the Scientific Institute in downtown Cairo.

During the Saturday session, defence lawyer Khaled Ali unsuccessfuly appealed to the judge to reverse his earlier decision that Douma can only be admitted to a hospital outside prison if he has prior consent from the judge.

Ali added that the judge's decision for prior consent made Douma's family live "two black days" when Douma's health deteriorated and the prosecution and interior ministry couldn't transport him to an outside prison until they could get the judge's consent.   

Douma was transported last week to Al-Qasr Al-Aini Hospital, outside prison, for dangerously low potassium levels.

He attended the court session in a wheelchair and told the judge that he has had anal bleeding for over five hours, which doctors couldn't stop. The judge issued a decision referring him to the medical examiner's office to detrmine his health state.

According to Aswat Masriya, in his address to the judge, Douma criticised the glass cage he is being held in during the trial saying it made it feel as if we are in "a house of reptiles not a court of law."

Douma is already serving a three-year sentence for breaking a controversial protest law. He was previously on hunger strike demanding a transfer to a hospital for treatment at his own expense but was forced to suspend his strike due to his health conditions.