CAIRO CRIMINAL COURT ADJOURNS MORSI'S TRIAL TO FEBRUARY 27

Cairo, 23 Rabi’ul Akhir 1435/23 February 2014 (MINA) – Cairo Criminal Court on Sunday adjourned to February 27 the trial of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and other defendants on charges of espionage, according to judicial sources.

The decision came after defense lawyer Mohamed Abu-Leila demanded new trial judges after the presiding judges refused to remove soundproof glass cages where the defendents were being held.

Morsi and 35 others are facing accusations of conspiring with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah to carry out “terrorist acts” in Egypt, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

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Twenty one of the defendants, including Morsi, appeared at Sunday’s court session, while the remaining defendants were being tried in absentia.

Morsi was transferred to the courthouse from southern Cairo’s Al-Aqrab maximum-security prison, to where he was taken following a separate trial session Saturday on jailbreak charges.

Security forces have cordoned off the Police Academy where the trial is taking place and deployed personnel and armored vehicles in the area.

Supporters of army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, largely perceived as the architect of last July’s ouster of Morsi, gathered outside the court venue to support the trial of the ousted president.

There were no Morsi supporters in the area.

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The ousted Islamist president is also faces a third trial on charges of inciting violence against anti-government protesters in late 2012. During all previous court appearances, Morsi had insisted he is still the “legitimate” president of Egypt. (T/P09/E01).

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).