Former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy,
appearing before a Cairo court Tuesday to face
charges related to a 2011 jailbreak, denounced the
process as unfair and unjust.
Speaking from inside a soundproof glass enclosure,
Morsy demanded to know where he was and who
was in charge. His lawyers explained to the judge
that he was angry because he had not been allowed
to see his lawyers or family.
Nineteen Muslim Brotherhood members, including
Morsy, allegedly broke out of the prison in 2011,
state-run EGYNews reported.
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.
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 Wadi-Natroun prison, the state-
owned Ahram Online news agency said.
The defendants are also accused of attempting to
murder police officers, Ahram Online said.
'I am not assured' of judge's fairness
The judge, who controlled the sound, allowed Morsy
to address the court in the afternoon.
Morsy said he had not been allowed to see his
lawyers since November. But he had been visited
repeatedly by "investigative judges" whom he
warned about taking part in what he sees as a
farce.
"It's not enough for the judge to be fair, but for the
subject to be assured of the judge's fairness, and I
am not assured," he said.
The other Muslim Brotherhood defendants were
placed in a separate enclosure and held up a four-
finger salute to show solidarity with the group.
The judge adjourned the hearing until February 22.
The trial is one of several that Morsy is facing. 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.
A short tenure
Morsy became Egypt's first democratically elected
president in 2012 after the fall of Mubarak, who had
ruled Egypt for 29 years.
But just one year later, Morsy was deposed in a
military coup. The U.S. State Department called for
the military to release him, saying his detention
was politically motivated.
Opponents accused Morsy of pursuing an Islamist
agenda and excluding other factions from the
government.
But supporters said that he wasn't given a fair
chance and that the military has returned to the
authoritarian practices of Mubarak.
Egyptian official killed
Morsy's trial wasn't the only significant news out of
Egypt on Tuesday.
A senior aide to Egypt's interior minister was killed
in the Giza area of Cairo, a presidential spokesman
said.
Gen. Mohammed Said was shot and killed near the
Pyramids, spokesman Ehab Badaway said. There
was no immediate claim of responsibility for the
attack.
Last September, the interior minister himself was
targeted in an assassination attempt.
Egypt's Interior Ministry oversees the country's
police force, which has led a fierce and sometimes
deadly crackdown against protesters over the past
several months.
Source: CNN
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