Egypt's Mubarak, Muslim Brotherhood chiefs due in court on Sunday

CAIRO (AFP) - Egypt's ousted president Hosni Mubarak, who left prison for house arrest this week, is due in court on Sunday for a hearing, as are several recently arrested top Muslim Brotherhood leaders.

Mubarak is to have a hearing in his retrial on charges of complicity in the deaths of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ousted him.

The case is one of several against Mubarak, who was granted pre-trial release this week but placed under house arrest by interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi.

The 85-year-old former president is being held at a military hospital in Cairo and it was not immediately clear if he would attend the hearing at the Police Academy.

Mubarak was convicted last June and sentenced to life in prison, but a retrial was ordered in January after he appealed.

He could face the death penalty in that case, and is also facing charges in several corruption cases.

At the same time, but in a different court, Brotherhood supreme guide Mohamed Badie and two deputies - Rashad Bayoumi and Khairat al-Shater - are to make their first appearance on charges of inciting the murder of protesters.

They were arrested in by security forces following the ouster of president Mohamed Mursi, a fellow Brotherhood member, in a July 3 coup.

They are accused of inciting the murder of protesters who died outside their Cairo headquarters on the evening of June 30.

Another three Brotherhood members will stand trial with them, accused of carrying out the murder of the demonstrators in the incident.

All six face the death penalty if convicted.

The Egyptian authorities have issued arrest warrants and detention orders for hundreds of Brotherhood members and detained several senior leaders of the group in recent days.

According to security sources, at least 2,000 have been arrested since Aug 14.

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