The Mubarak trial: 4 strange facts

Egypt's future may hinge on its former leader's trial. But this week, the importance of the proceedings was briefly overshadowed by oddity and spectacle

Egyptians watch Mubarak's trial unfold Wednesday: One lawyer requested a DNA test of the former president, saying the man lying in the hospital bed was not Mubarak.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El-Ghany)

When Hosni Mubarak's long-awaited corruption and murder trial began this week, it immediately turned into a spectacle. The nation watched on TV, transfixed as boisterous lawyers disrupted the proceedings and a defiant Mubarak, who is believed to be suffering from stomach cancer, watched quietly from a hospital bed in the defendant's cage. Here are four details that contributed to the unexpectedly chaotic atmosphere:

1. An unexpected ringtone

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