• 09:31
  • Thursday ,06 February 2014
العربية

Morsi 'presidential palace' trial continues

By-Ahram

Copts and Poliltical Islam

00:02

Thursday ,06 February 2014

Morsi 'presidential palace' trial continues

The trial of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and 14 co-defendants continues on Wednesday.The trial of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and 14 co-defendants continues on Wednesday.

Morsi, his presidential aides and senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders are accused of inciting the murder and torture of opposition protesters outside the presidential palace in December 2012.
 
At least ten people were killed during protests triggered by a presidential decree that expanded Morsi's powers.
 
The presidential palace's guard commander, guard chief and nine other witnesses will give their testimonies at Wednesday's session.
 
Morsi, who was removed from power by the army in July amid huge protests against his year-long rule, is currently facing four separate trials.
 
Wednesday's hearing is the fifth in this particular case.
 
Morsi could face the death penalty if convicted.
 
On Tuesday the court said a report on video footage of the deadly clashes would be reviewed on 1 March.
 
Civil plaintiffs have called for the court to examine the role played in the clashes by Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and Saad El-Katatni, the leader of the group's Freedom and Justice Party.
 
Both are being tried in a separate case for inciting murder.
 
Morsi has consistently refused to recognise the authority of the courts trying him, and has claimed that he is still Egypt's legitimate president.
 
But he recently appointed Mohamed Selim El-Awa as his defence lawyer after earlier refusing to do so.
 
The interim authorities have mounted a sustained crackdown on Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement, which it has declared a "terrorist organisation."
 
Much of the group's upper echelons are behind bars and facing trials for inciting violence and other charges.
 
At least 1,400 people, mostly Islamists, have been in killed in street violence since July, according to Amnesty International.
 
Scores of police and soldiers have also been killed in militant attacks that have spread from the Sinai Peninsula to other parts of the country, including Cairo.