CAIRO - Instead of watching the rerun of her favourite soap opera, which she normally waits for impatiently every morning, Rokia Osama, a housewife, prefers to watch the trial of the century. "Honestly speaking, I have decided to watch the trial on TV because I was skeptical that Mubarak would actually stand trial and I want to see him with my own eyes in the cage," said the 27-year-old housewife. "I'm pleased to see the tyrant being tried and justice taking its course. I will watch subsequent sessions of the trial because it's far more important than any Ramadan TV series," she told The Egyptian Gazette in an interview. Mubarak's trial on charges of graft and killing protesters to quell a popular uprising which forced him to step down on February 11, opened on Wednesday. His two sons, Alaa and Gamal, were in the same dock, along with former interior minister Habib el-Adly and six of his deputies. The public trial of Mubarak and corrupt officials of the former regime was among the demands of the revolutionaries, who organised a sit-in for three weeks to press for more reform and a revolutionary Government. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) approved this demand last month and gave permission to State TV to broadcast the trials live. The trial of the century has gripped the whole nation and the Egyptians seemed to be totally absorbed in watching the opening hearing. The streets were abnormally quiet during the proceedings. People were at home watching the trial, something unusual in the holy fasting month, when Egyptians love watching TV soaps until late into the night. Rokia is not the only one who sacrificed her favourite soap opera to watch the opening session of the trial. Workers in many companies downed tools to watch it on big screens outside their offices and factories, or on the Internet. Suzy Affify, who works for an international company, says that their supervisors gave them permission to watch part of the trial; something that rarely happens, even if Egypt are playing in the final of the African Cup of Nations. "While watching the trial, my colleagues and supervisor recited verses of the Holy Qur'an, which say: ‘God gives sovereignty to whom He pleases, and takes sovereignty from whom He pleases. God glorifies whom He wills and humiliates whom He wills'. "His trial will be an example for any ruler who claims divine authority and thinks he can go unpunished," adds Suzy. The video of Mubarak and his sons' trial has been circulated on the social networking Facebook. Nearly 24 hours after it had been posted, almost 82,000 people had viewed it on YouTube. In Cairo and Giza, many passersby stopped outside coffee shops to watch the hearing. Taxi drivers were also tuned in on their radios. The ousted president's trial, which has been adjourned until August 15, is bound to continue Egyptians' attention throughout Ramadan, a time for family gatherings. "I expect many people to come and watch the proceedings on August 15 and succeeding sessions. Normally people come here to watch soap operas during Ramadan," says Mohamed Yehia, sitting in his coffee shop in Doqqi, Giza Governorate.
