An appeal presented by defendants in the “Hamas espionage” case to change the judges in the bench is being looked into by court, leading to the suspension of the trial on Sunday till a decision is made in this matter.
The defendants included former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, as well as senior Brotherhood members Mohamed El-Beltagy, Essam El-Erian, and Mohamed Badie. The previously issued verdicts included death and life sentences. They were charged with collaborating with the Hamas movement and the Iranian Republican Guard to “plot against the stability of the country”.
Later, the Cassation Court ordered the annulment of death and prison sentences handed to Morsi and prominent members of the Brotherhood, and ordered a retrial.
Morsi received his first prison sentence in the “presidential palace clashes” case. He was also sentenced to 20 years for inciting violence. This sentence cannot be appealed.
In a different case, he is also accused of insulting the judiciary, along with other defendants.
Morsi came to power in 2012 as the first democratically elected president in Egypt. However, his ouster came after mass protests on 30 June 2013 in opposition to his ruling. On 3 July 2013, the Egyptian Armed Forces ousted Morsi, a move that strained Egypt’s relations with other countries, such as Turkey and the United States, as they labelled the ouster decision a “military coup”.
