Gov’t will protect judges in Morsi trial, Ambassador to Italy
CAIRO – The trial against ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has been adjourned until January 8. The Court on Monday adjourned the case after temporarily halting proceedings when defendants – 14 Muslim Brotherhood leaders charged of inciting violence against demonstrators at the end of 2012 – chanted slogans against the court.
Morsi has been taken by helicopter to the Borg El-Arab penitentiary in Alexandria, security sources said. He had been held in detention in an undisclosed location since July 3, when he was taken out of power.
Meanwhile security forces fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators backing Morsi who had gathered since Monday morning in front of the Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo and clashes were reported outside and around the High Court in the city centre. Backers and opponents of the ousted president ousted president clashed with the police which used tear gas in an attempt to stop the protests.
Morsi faces charges of inciting violence. According to ANSA’s sources, Morsi has just told the iudge the following words: ”I am your president” .
Egyptian Ambassador to Italy Amr Helmy told ANSA Monday in a statement that the government would do everything possible to protect judges from pressure and intimidation. ”Morsi supporters had said there would be threats and protests,” noted the ambassador, ”but the government will go forward and deal with all acts of violence committed by the protestors according to the law.”
Helmy said that the trial had not been postponed but only adjourned in order to enable the defense team to read all documents and prepare their defense. The ambassador underscored that former president Morsi had been granted all the same legal protections and rights as former head of state Hosni Mubarak. ”Both are being tried before an ordinary court with the possibility of appeal and taking the case to the Supreme Court in case of a negative verdict,” he said, noting that ”the government does not have any power to interfere with the decisions made by the investigative and judicial authorities, both as concerns arrests and as concerns detention, release and trials.”
There should be no alarm raised over the demonstrations in the Egyptian capital and some governorates, Helmy said. For now, ”as the government itself announced, there is no intention of extending the state of emergency beyond November 14.” (ANSAmed).