The defense team of former president Mohamed Morsi was denied access to the evidence against their client on charges of spying for Qatar on the grounds the access “could harm the national security,” by the presiding judge, Youm7 reported.Morsi and 10 co-defendants are accused of leaking documents and files from state’s intelligence bodies, the Armed Forces and the National Security Sector to the presidential palace to send the information to Qatar.
According to the investigations, the documents include information about the Armed Forces’ bases and the state’s foreign and interior policies. The defendants include Qatari-owned Al Jazeera channel, and an officer in the Qatari Intelligence body.
The defense team asked the judge to consider the case evidence in private; but were denied access to the evidence, and were allowed to only attend the sessions displaying the evidences, Youm7 reported.
On March 3, the court imposed a media gag on the secret sessions in which the evidences would be displayed, upon a request from Morsi’ s defense.
Morsi is standing trial in three other cases: espionage with Palestine Movement Hamas, which Egypt designated a terrorist group in February, inciting violence against peaceful protestors outside the presidential palace of Itihadyia in which 10 people were killed in December 2012; and prison break during the January 25 Revolution.
The former interim government designated the Muslim Brotherhood to which Morsi belongs as a “terrorist group” in December 2013 following explosions that targeted the Dakahlia Security directorate.
Morsi was ousted by the Army in July 2013 following mass protests called for the end of his regime; since then Egypt’s government launched a crackdown on the MB members and supporters; hundreds were detained, other have emigrated to Turkey, Qatar, and other nations.
