A court in Alexandria will issue its verdict in the retrial of two policemen accused of killing Khaled Said on 3 March.
On Monday, the court heard the defendants' lawyer Ihab Abdel-Aziz argue the killing – which took place in June 2010 – was a Zionist plot to harm the Mubarak regime.
He went on claim Said was not "killed but rather committed suicide" by swallowing a packet of drugs, repeating a common claim circulated by Mubarak-affiliated media outlets prior to the January 2011 uprising.
The defendants, accused of beating Said to death, will remain in detention until the final verdict.
Said was reportedly targeted because he possessed video footage of police sharing the spoils of a drug bust.
His killing helped trigger the popular uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.
In October 2012, the two policemen were sentenced to seven years in jail for the illegal imprisonment and torture of Said. Both prosecution and defence appealed the original sentence.
