Mursi returns to court as trial over killings resumes

Security forces keep watch outside the police academy in Cairo where the third hearing in the trial of Mursi and 14 others was held yesterday.

AFP/CairoDeposed Egyptian leader Mohamed Mursi was back in court yesterday as his trial over the killing of protesters resumed, with the defence insisting he is still the legitimate president. His trial is seen as a test for Egypt’s military-installed authorities, who have come under fire for a heavy-handed crackdown on his Islamist supporters after he was forced out by the army last July. An Islamist coalition backing Mursi called for nationwide protests yesterday to “support the legitimate elected president”, but there were no reports of any demonstrations. At yesterday’s hearing Mursi, dressed in a white prison uniform, was held in a glass cage separate from co-defendants. Of the 14 co-defendants, seven were present, while the rest are being tried in absentia. Some of the co-defendants turned their backs on the proceedings and gave a four-fingered “Rabaa” salute, after welcoming Mursi when he entered his cage. The gesture refers to a massive pro-Mursi protest in Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya Square that was violently dispersed in August, setting off clashes in which hundreds of people, mostly Islamists, were killed. The third hearing of the trial—in which Mursi and his co-defendants are accused of inciting the killing of protesters in December 2012 outside the presidential palace—was held at a heavily guarded police academy in Cairo. “This court has no jurisdiction to look into the case because Mursi is still the president and no official decision was taken for his ouster,” said lawyer Salim al-Awa, a member of the defence team. The judge declined a request by Mursi to speak at the proceedings. Prosecutors showed video footage at yesterday’s hearing of what they said were “supporters of defendants” chanting pro-Mursi slogans, carrying sticks and dismantling protest tents outside the presidential palace in December 2012. The footage also showed at least one alleged Muslim Brotherhood member firing a gun.  At that time, members of the Muslim Brotherhood to which Mursi belongs attacked opposition protesters camped outside the palace in protest at a decree by Mursi to grant himself extrajudicial powers. At least seven people were killed in the clashes, and dozens of opposition protesters were detained and beaten by Mursi’s supporters. The incident was a turning point in Mursi’s presidency, galvanising a disparate opposition that eventually organised the mass protests in June 2013 that led to his downfall. Mursi’s defence says there is no proof he incited the clashes, and that most of those killed in the violence were members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which moved in to protect the presidential palace after police withdrew. The trial was adjourned to Tuesday.Reshuffle to include Sisi’s ministryPrime Minister Hazem Beblawi has said a cabinet reshuffle will include the defence ministry, an Egyptian newspaper said yesterday, in the clearest sign yet that Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi plans to stand for president.Army chief Sisi, now defence minister in Egypt’s interim government, is widely expected to announce his candidacy within days and win an election easily.Before he can run for president he must step down from his government post.The reshuffle will not be announced before a visit by Beblawi to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and Wednesday, the privately-owned Al Masry Al Youm newspaper quoted him as saying.