Mubarak senior is expected at the court within an hour, where he will learn whether he is guilty of the murder of demonstrators during the uprising that overthrew him last year.

Former interior minister Habib al-Adly and six security chiefs also arrived at the Police Academy in Cairo where the trial is being held.

Mubarak, his sons Alaa and Gamal and business associate Hussein Salem, who fled to Spain, are also on trial over an alleged bribe.

And the former president is also accused of selling natural gas to Israel at lower than market prices.