Supporter of Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak chant slogans after a session at the Cairo High Court in Egypt, Thursday, April 7, 2016. Mubarak is being retried over the killing of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his nearly three decades in power. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Egypt’s Court of Cassation postponed on Thursday the third session in the final trial of ousted president Hosni Mubarak on murder-related charges after he failed to show up to the High Court building in downtown Cairo.
The court adjourned the retrial until 3 November and ordered that it be moved to a "more convenient location."
Mubarak's lawyer, Farid El-Dieb, said during Thursday's session that the former president does not object to coming to the High Court, however, the Egyptian interior ministry was the one against his presence due to security reasons.
The High Court building, located in a busy area in central Cairo, has been the target of several unsuccessful terrorist attacks in the past two years.
Mubarak is being retried on charges of complicity in killing protesters during the 25 January 2011 revolution.
Mubarak, 87, was initially sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for his complicity in the murder of protestors during the 18-day January 2011 uprising that ended his 30-year autocratic rule.
In November 2014, the court dismissed the case against Mubarak, citing legal irregularities, but prosecutors appealed.
The court upheld the acquittal of other defendants in the same case, including ex-interior minister Habib El-Adly and four of his aides. This decision is now final and cannot be appealed further.
In June 2015, the Court of Cassation set the start of Mubarak’s retrial for November, but proceedings were then postponed.
In January 2016, the same court upheld a three-year prison sentence for Mubarak and his two sons for corruption. He was convicted of diverting public funds amounting to EGP 125 million ($16 million) – meant for the maintenance of presidential palaces – to upgrade his family property.
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