Morsi back in courtroom as Egypt intensifies crackdown on dissent
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OUSTED Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and several secular figures behind Egypt’s 2011 uprising yesterday went on trial, as authorities continued to crack down on dissent.
The trial for “insulting the judiciary” is the fifth for Morsi, who was sentenced to death last week on charges connected with a mass prison break during the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
Morsi and other Islamist opponents of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi are back in the dock, as well as several liberal and secular opposition leaders in the first such trial that brought together all forms of opposition.
Twenty-six defendants — including some Sisi supporters — were accused of contempt of court in comments made in parliament, speeches, on social media or in interviews.
Morsi entered court in the blue prison uniform of a convict, and was separated from the other defendants, standing alone in a metal cage.
“This court has no jurisdiction to judge me,” said Morsi, who has rejected all the courts that have tried him.
“My family and my lawyers have been prevented from visiting me,” he said.
Seven other defendants appeared in a separate cage.
“The crackdown ... is only intensifying and the judiciary is very much at the forefront,” said Shadi Hamid, a fellow at the Brookings Centre for Middle East Policy.
“The trial will be kind of a test case of what the regime is thinking, not just of Islamists but also of the liberal and secular opposition as well.”
Among the defendants is Alaa Abdel Fattah, a top secular activist behind the protests that led to Mubarak’s downfall.
Already in prison for participating in an “illegal protest” in 2013, he has been charged over comments on Twitter on 2011 raids on the offices of foreign civil society groups.
Other defendants in court included Muslim Brotherhood leaders Mohamed Beltagy and Saad al-Qatatni.
Amr Hamzawy, a political science professor and former MP, and human rights lawyer Amir Salem are also among the accused but were not in court.
Alongside Abdel Fattah, they had called for Morsi’s ouster.
Morsi was toppled by then army chief Sisi in 2013 after mass street protests against his turbulent year in power.
A sweeping crackdown overseen by Sisi has seen hundreds of Morsi supporters killed in clashes with security forces, thousands jailed and many more sentenced to death.
Several human rights groups have accused the authorities of using the judiciary as a weapon to crush all kinds of opposition.
While Morsi and some leaders of his blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood have been sentenced to death in other trials, the judiciary has also sentenced several secular activists to long jail terms.
The latest trial is an example of “political revenge,” said Abdel Fattah’s defense lawyer Gamal Eid.
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