(AFP/File, Virginie Nguyen Hoang)
On Saturday the Minya Criminal Court postponed the trial of Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and 545 other Brotherhood supporters charged with violence in the aftermath of the clearings of sit-ins at Rabaa Al-Adaweya Mosque and Nahda Square.
The defence team previously filed a motion asking the presiding bench to recuse itself. On Saturday the motion was denied and the trial was scheduled to resume on Monday, reported state-run Al-Ahram.
Also on Saturday, a Cairo misdemeanours court delayed the trial of Muslim Brotherhood members accused of rioting, damaging public and private property, and assaulting security forces on 25 January. The court plans to continue on 19 April.
Court cases against Muslim Brotherhood supporters have faced repeated delays, postponements and adjournments.
Badie is the defendant in 25 cases in Cairo alone, said his attorney, Mohamed Damati. Damati described the cases against Badie as political rather than criminal.
Forty-eight Muslim Brotherhood members, including Badie, were to appear in court on Wednesday facing charges that include blocking traffic, damaging public and private property, possession of illegal weapons, and attacking and terrorising citizens to threaten national peace and spread chaos during July protests in the city of Qaliub, located on the northern edge of the Cairo metropolitan area. The defendants did not appear in court, with Al-Ahram citing security reasons. A new trial date has not been set.
Badie is the defendant in a number of other ongoing trials, including an indictment for killing protesters on 30 June and 1 July during deadly clashes outside the Muslim Brotherhood’s headquarters in Cairo’s Moqattam neighbourhood.
Badie is also a co-defendant in two trials that include deposed president Mohamed Morsi. Badie, Morsi and 34 other Muslim Brotherhood leaders are charged with spying for the International Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood and its armed wing from 2005 to 2013 by revealing classified information. They also face charges, along with 129 defendants, for escaping from Wadi El-Natrun Prison on 28 January 2011.
