(Newser)
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Hosni Mubarak's day began in a Cairo courtroom, in a cage. The 83-year-old ousted Egyptian leader lay on a hospital bed contained by mesh and iron bars as he pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption and ordering the killing of protesters during the uprising that ousted him. The Wall Street Journal reports Mubarak listened "impassively" to the list of charges, and added, "I have not committed any such crimes."
The scene, shown live on Egypt's state TV, was Egyptians' first look at their former president since Feb. 10, the day before his fall, when he gave a defiant speech refusing to resign. Mubarak and his nine co-defendants, including his two sons and former interior minister, all wore white prison uniforms. Outside the Cairo police academy where the trial is being held, hundreds of his opponents scuffled with angry supporters.
