Hosni Mubarak will face trial from a cage

Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's 83-year-old former ruler, will face charges of corruption and giving orders to shoot protesters from inside a cage large enough for his sons and associates.

The trial, to be held inside a cavernous convention center in Cairo, moved forward when the country's health minister said the former autocrat is "well enough" to be moved from Sharm el-Sheikh to Cairo, the AP reported.

There's been an uptick in protests recently amid outcries that the military council, which took power from Mubarak, is "dragging its feet on prosecutions." See GlobalPosts — Egypt's ousted president Hosni Mubarak is reportedly depressed and refusing solid food.

Mubarak stepped down in February after weeks violent clashes between protesters and pro-regime miliitas in which more than 840 people died.

Tahrir Square is once again the home of protestors bent on Mubarak's prosecution. They are now deeply skeptical, accusing authorities of using Mubarak's illness as a ploy to delay the trial.

"I think they will find some excuse for him not to come to Cairo," said activist Marwa Nasser. "We've been guessing that they'll annouce that he's dead, or that security reasons keep him from going on TV. Even if he comes, people doubt that we'll ever see him in the cage or on TV."

The trial is due to begin on August 3, the BBC reported. Mr Mubarak's two sons, Alaa and Gamal, and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six senior police officials will also go on trial, according to justice officials.

Adly has already been sentenced to 12 years in jail for corruption. Mr Mubarak faces execution if found guilty, according to AP news agency.

Mubarak's family is suspected of embezzling billions of dollars while nearly half of Egypt's 85 million people subsisted on $2 a day.