Former President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak was absent from a trial session of the case related to the 2011 mass jail breaks on Monday, where former President Mohamed Morsi is accused, according to state owned media.
In a previous session, Morsi’s lawyer demanded Mubarak’s testimony. Yet on Monday, Mubarak was announced absent, which means that the prosecution will have to summon him again. According to local media, the prosecution addressed Mubarak as a civilian, and not as a military personnel.
Since March 2017, and after six years since the spark of the 25 January revolution, the Cassation Court acquitted Mubarak of all charges related to the killing of protesters during the revolution.
Mubarak and the then Minister of Interior Habib El-Adly were charged with killing protesters, however, the prosecution stated that they only provided weapons and vehicles that were used in the attacks. They are now walking free, but accused of charges in other pending trials.
Morsi—who was also the leader of the Freedom and Justice Party, which is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood—is already facing the death penalty on other charges.
Morsi came to power in 2012 after winning the presidential elections. However, his ouster came on 3 July 2013, following mass protests started on 30 June 2013, in opposition to his ruling.
The Brotherhood was labelled as a terrorist organisation in 2013, following a court decision that banned the group. Thousands of its members are being tried in front of the Egyptian judiciary.
In November 2016, the Cairo Court of Appeals had repealed a death sentence and a life imprisonment verdict to defendants in the case.
The case dates back to 2011 during the 25 January revolution, when Wadi El-Natrun prison, where Morsi was a prisoner, was stormed on 29 January. The defendants face charges of inciting trouble with the aid of the international Brotherhood organisation, Hezbollah, as well as Hamas.
