Ousted president Morsi, 198 others to face military trial in Egypt
Cairo: Deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and 198 other Islamist leaders and supporters will be tried in a military court for inciting deadly violence in the city of Suez following his ouster by the army
Cairo: Deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and 198 other Islamist leaders and supporters will be tried in a military court for inciting deadly violence in the city of Suez following his ouster by the army in 2013, state media reported today.
The defendants, including the supreme guide of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie and leaders Khayrat el- Shater, Safwat Hegazzy and Mohamed el-Beltagi and others, will be tried on February 23, state-run MENA news agency reported.
They are accused of murder, causing injury, attempted murder, attacking army personnel and torching army vehicles and some churches in the Suez region.
The violence from August 14-16, 2013, left at least 31 people dead and 214 injured, state prosecutors have alleged.
Thousands of pro-Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood members have been rounded up and put on trial since the army deposed the Islamist leader in July, 2013 following massive street protests against his rule.
Morsi, 63, himself is currently in prison on charges of killing peaceful protesters, espionage, escaping from prison during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution and insulting the judiciary, although he is yet to be sentenced in any case.
Morsi, Egypt's first democratically-elected president, was overthrown by the powerful military following mass street protests against his rule that was plagued by political uncertainty and violence in a deeply polarised country that ultimately led to his ouster.
Since Morsi's exit, there has been a severe crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood as well as on other activists seen as hostile to the military-backed government.
The Brotherhood has been declared a terrorist organisation while jihadists have increased attacks in the restive Sinai Peninsula killing dozens of soldiers.