EGYPT REFERS MORSI TO NEW TRIAL OVER ‘LEAKED DOCUMENTS’

President Morsi behind a cell in court. (Photo: MEMO)

Cairo, 12 Dzulqa’dah 1435/7 September 2014 (MINA) – Egypt’s prosecutor-general on Saturday referred ousted president Mohamed Morsi and others to trial over charges of leaking confidential documents to Qatar.

According to a statement from the top prosecutor’s office, the trial would look into “the biggest espionage and betrayal case in Egypt’s history.”

Last month, the prosecutor-general ordered Morsi be jailed for 15 days pending investigation into alleged charges of leaking “national security documents” to Qatar, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) quoted Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Sunday.

Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected leader, was ousted by the military in July of last year – after only one year in office – following protests against his presidency.

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The trial would be the fifth for Morsi, who also faces charges of inciting the murder of demonstrators , espionage, jailbreak and offending Egypt’s judiciary in separate cases.

Morsi, along with his co-defendants, insists that the charges against him are politically driven.

Relations between Cairo and Doha worsened almost a year ago when the Egyptian military, then headed by now president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, ousted Morsi.

The military-backed authorities in Egypt accuse the Qatari government of interfering in the country’s affairs, citing heavy criticism launched by most of the guests on the Doha-based Al Jazeera news network and its affiliate Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr, devoted to cover Egypt’s affairs.

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They also accused Qatar of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, the group that propelled Morsi to power through the 2012 presidential elections. (T/P002/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)

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