Reporters of partisan and privately-owned newspaper were denied entry into a hearing of former President Mohamed Morsi’s espionage trial Wednesday, while reporters of state-run publication were allowed, Youm7 reported.
Judge Mohamed Sherine Fahmy did not disclose reasons behind his decision, which includes all trials he presides at the Police Academy.
Reporters of independent publications objected to the decision after the police informed them, as and demanded their right to covering the proceedings like their counterparts at state-owned newspapers.
Banning all reporters from attending certain hearings related to national security, as in the cases of spying for Qatar and Hamas against Morsi, is a common occurrence, as well as issuing media gags.
Morsi and 10 other defendants are being tried over charges of spying for Qatar. The defendants face charges of leaking classified documents related to the national security and the army to the monarchy.
The former Islamist president stands several other trials. He was sentenced to death by Judge Shaban el-Shamy last January over the mass jailbreak that took place during the January 25 Revolution in 2011.
