Morsi ‘presidential palace’ trial postponed to 1 March

Daily News Egypt
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A report by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) on the response of local communities to sectarian tensions claims the sessions to address community problems are having a negative effect. (AFP PHOTO / MAHMOUD KHALED)
An Egyptian riot policeman stands gard behind barbed wire in front of the main gate of the Police Academy in Cairo where a new hearing in the trial of deposed president Mohamed Morsi resumed on February 5, 2014 on charges of inciting the killing of protesters, with the court scheduled to hear testimony of a former military commander.  (AFP PHOTO / MAHMOUD KHALED)
An Egyptian riot policeman stands gard behind barbed wire in front of the main gate of the Police Academy in Cairo where a new hearing in the trial of deposed president Mohamed Morsi resumed on February 5, 2014 on charges of inciting the killing of protesters, with the court scheduled to hear testimony of a former military commander.
(AFP PHOTO / MAHMOUD KHALED)

By Aya Nader

Cairo Criminal Court on Wednesday postponed the fifth hearing of former president Mohamed Morsi’s “presidential palace” case to 1 March.

The hearing was originally scheduled to be held on Tuesday at the Police Academy. Morsi was not returned to Borg Al-Arab Prison in Alexandria and was held overnight at the academy, according to state-owned Al-Ahram.

The case includes Morsi, Deputy Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) Chairman Essam El-Erian, senior party member Mohamed Al-Beltagy and ultraconservative preacher Wagdi Ghoneim, along with 11 other Islamist figures, Muslim Brotherhood members and FJP members.

The plaintiff requested on Tuesday that other Brotherhood leaders be added to the defence, including Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, FJP Chairman Saad Al-Katatny, and members Mahmoud Ghozlan and Mohamed Al-Tahtawy.

The defence had also called for former National Salvation Front (NSF) general coordinator Mohamed ElBaradei, and former presidential candidates Hamdeen Sabahy and Amr Moussa to be added to the case on Tuesday.

Muslim Brotherhood spokeswoman Wafaa Al-Banna said, “[The defence] wants to include them for incitement; they are the real inciters.  There is no proof that Morsi or the other [defendants] incited [violence].” She added that the case is an “unfounded pre-meditated plot against the Brotherhood” and that Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim, who also held the position at the time of the incident, should be tried.

The defendants are facing charges of inciting to kill protesters outside the presidential palace in December 2012.

The Muslim Brotherhood had released a statement in December 2013 on the anniversary of the violent clashes, saying that the trials were part of a conspiracy against the group and the 25 January Revolution.

Morsi is also currently being charged in three additional separate trials, for insulting the judiciary, his prison break from Wadi Al Natrun, and espionage.

 

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