On Sunday the trial of deposed president Mohamed Morsi, along with 14 other defendants including other leading Muslim Brotherhood members, for the inciting the killing of protesters, was postponed to 12 April—the second time it was postponed in two days.
Morsi and other Islamist notables, including Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie, Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) Chairman Saad Al-Katastny, ultraconservative preacher Wagdy Ghoneim, and senior FJP member Mohamed Al-Beltagy are accused of inciting the killing of protesters during December 2012 clashes outside the Itihadiya Palace in Heliopolis.
The trial was postponed on Sunday in order for several witnesses to present their testimonies in private, including Yasser Hassan Eweda, who was head of presidential palace security, and other members of the former president’s security staff.
Saturday’s hearing, which was held at the Police Academy amid security concerns, was postponed to discuss witness testimonies, according to state-owned Al-Ahram. A screening of videos was scheduled, containing alleged footage of Brotherhood protesters tearing down tents of rival protesters and participating in the fatal clashes that ensued.
The video evidence also includes certain figures, including Ghoneim, allegedly inciting violence against the anti-Morsi demonstrators.
Originally scheduled for 28 January, the trial has faced repeated delays in the last two months.
Morsi is also the co-defendant in three other trials: escaping from Wadi El-Natrun Prison on 28 January 2011, insulting the judiciary, and for espionage for working with foreign Islamist groups to “create chaos” in Egypt.
Morsi has been in custody since his ouster by the military on 3 July. Until his first appearance in court on 4 November, his place of detention was unknown.
