Al Arabiya television said Egyptian security authorities had received notice to move Mubarak to Cairo for trial, but a senior security source denied this, compounding fevered speculation about whether the ousted leader will attend.

An airport source in Sharm El-Sheikh, however, said a notice was circulating saying Mubarak would be flown from there to Cairo between 6 a.m. and 7.30 a.m. Wednesday morning.

A security source said Mubarak would be moved by helicopter if he is taken to Cairo.

Mubarak is being tried along with his two sons Alaa and Gamal, and former interior minister Habib Al-Adly as well as six security chiefs.

Businessman Hussein Salem is being tried in absentia in the same case.

More than 800 anti-regime protesters were killed in the January-February uprising that toppled Mubarak’s regime.

“This trial presents a historic opportunity for Egypt to hold a former leader and his inner circle to account for crimes committed during their rule,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“But if the trial is going to be a meaningful break with Egypt’s record of impunity, it must be both fair and transparent — justice demands no less. Not only must the trial be fair but it must be seen to be fair, not least by the families of those who died during the protests.”

If found guilty of murder, Mubarak — who ruled Egypt with an iron fist for 30 years — could face the death penalty, the justice minister has said.

The former leader is in custody at a Sharm El-Sheikh hospital, where he is being treated for a heart condition.

The health minister has said the former president is well enough to be moved. A source at the hospital said staff were on standby to transfer him early on Wednesday but could not confirm if a decision had been taken to do so.

Demonstrators are likely to be enraged if Mubarak does not appear in the court that has been set up in a Police Academy complex where he addressed the nation two days before protests against his rule erupted on Jan. 25. He quit 18 days later.

“I am a little worried that if Mubarak is tried and convicted people will take that to be the end of the revolution. They will say that the revolution has realized its goals. This should not be the case,” said Tareq Shalaby, a 27-year-old social media consultant who was among the hundreds of thousands of protesters who thronged Cairo’s Tahrir Square and other cities during the uprising.

A large cage has been set up in a hall in the Police Academy where the trial will proceed. Defendants in Egyptian criminal trials are put behind bars during court sessions.

“I really hope he will come to court and stand trial. This man has done a lot of bad things to his people and there is no excuse for him to do so, but whether he will get convicted or not, I really do not think I will live to see this day,” said Mary Gerges, 23, speaking in Cairo on her way to work.

“I think the man is so guilty and I don’t know how he cannot have been aware of all the bad things that were happening when he was in power. He was the president and was in charge of everything,” said Saleh Abdel Aziz, 52, owner of a shop store in Abdel Aziz street in downtown Cairo.

One lawyer representing 16 of the roughly 850 people killed in the 18-day uprising, Gamal Eid, said he and some other lawyers representing victims had not been given permits to attend the trial.

“We have asked to view Mubarak’s file and investigations conducting him and until now we have not been allowed to do that and for no valid reason,” he said, adding that he had been allowed to see files related to the former interior minister’s case which has now been merged into Mubarak’s case.

“This makes us worry about the seriousness of the trial. But we will go to court tomorrow and stand outside it if we are not allowed in,” he said.

The state news agency MENA said about 200 lawyers had tried to storm the office of the judge in charge of issuing the trial permits to protest that they have not been given one.

MENA said security had been stepped up at the Police Academy and surrounding area, including streets leading to the complex.

“The plan will include 20 armed vehicles and around 3,000 soldiers ... along with an armed cordon that will be put around all the entrances of the academy,” the agency said.

Only those with permits issued before the trial will be allowed to enter the hall.

The presiding judge said a maximum of 600 people would be allowed to attend.

The judge in charge of issuing permits said those allowed to attend were the relatives of the accused, accredited journalists and some family members of victors or other members of the public who registered before.