 | Anyone can learn to understand their dreams - even you! You'll have step by step instructions including templates. All you need is a dream. Enroll today for $79. From our sponsors  |
| CNN.com - Top Stories |
| CNN.com delivers up-to-the-minute news and information on the latest top stories, weather, entertainment, politics and more. |
Lawyers storm out of court in Morsy conspiracy trial
2/16/2014 12:01:11 PM
- NEW: Defense lawyers object to the placement of soundproof glass where defendants stand
- Morsy and 35 Muslim Brotherhood members are accused of spying and funding terrorism
- Morsy became president in 2012, but was deposed in a military coup one year later
- His supporters say the military has returned to the authoritarian practices of Mubarak
(CNN) -- Ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsy entered a Cairo courtroom on Sunday to stand trial on conspiracy charges.
But the trial quickly went into recess after defense lawyers left the courtroom in objection to the court placing soundproof glass on the dock where defendants usually stand In the courtroom.
"The glass dock is to humiliate the defendants," lawyer Mohamed Selim El Awa said. "This is unprecedented in the world."
Morsy and 35 Muslim Brotherhood members are accused of spying for foreign organizations outside Egypt, committing terrorist acts inside the country, disclosing classified defense information to a foreign country and funding terrorism.
Among the allegations, the prosecutor-general's office claimed the Brotherhood and terrorists attacked armed forces and police in Sinai "with the purpose of terrorizing the Egyptian people, stirring chaos, infringing upon the independence of the country and its territorial integrity as well as the unity of the people, and foaming sectarian sedition with the aim of igniting civil war in Egypt."
The trial is one of several that Morsy is facing amid Egypt's seesaw power struggles.
More legal challenges
He has also been charged with raiding other prisons, killing soldiers and officers in Rafah, and incitement to murder in connection with protests against his rule in 2012.
In January, Morsy went to court to face charges related to a high-profile jailbreak. He and 18 other Muslim Brotherhood members allegedly broke out of the prison in 2011, a year before Morsy became president, state-run EGYNews reported.
Morsy and dozens of co-defendants are accused of collaborating with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah to escape from the prison.
At the time, the Muslim Brotherhood was banned in the country. But the Islamist group became Egypt's most powerful political force after longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February 2011.
During his court appearance for the jailbreak charges, he denounced the process as unfair and unjust. His lawyers told the judge Morsy was angry because he had not been allowed to see his lawyers or family.
Short presidency
Morsy became Egypt's first democratically elected president in 2012 after the fall of Mubarak, who had ruled Egypt for 29 years. Shortly after he was elected, Morsy resigned from Muslim Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party in an effort to show he will represent all Egyptians.
But just one year later, Morsy was deposed in a military coup.
Opponents accused Morsy of pursuing an Islamist agenda and excluding other factions from the government.
But supporters said he wasn't given a fair chance and that the military has returned to the authoritarian practices of Mubarak.
CNN's Holly Yan contributed to this report.
You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at feedmyinbox.com
If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions
No comments:
Post a Comment