Egypt mass trial of Islamists opens, adjourns

A court in Egypt trying the 1,200 supporters of deposed Islamist president Mohammad Mursi adjourned on Saturday after a brief hearing, state media reported.

Around 500 defendants faced charges at a court in Minya, south of Cairo, while the trial for the remaining defendants is due to start Tuesday, state news agency MENA reported.

The defendants are accused of attacking both people and public property in southern Egypt in August after security forces broke up two demonstrations in Cairo set up by Mursi sympathizers.

The defendants are also charged with committing acts of violence that led to the deaths of two policemen, judicial sources say.

Hundreds of people died in the August 14 assault by the regime on the two Cairo protests and subsequent clashes.

The source also said around 200 of the defendants are in detention, while others are either out on bail or on the run.

One of the defendants is the supreme guide of the now-blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammad Badie, among other senior members of the organization.

The legal proceedings is part of the military-installed regime’s crackdown on Mursi’s Islamists supports who still maintain he is the true president and demand his reinstatement.

The trial is the country’s largest since the army removed Mursi last July after only one year in power.

He is currently on trial in three different cases, including one for inciting the killing of protesters outside a presidential palace during his presidency.

Mohammad Mursi was the first elected, civilian president in Egypt. He was ousted by the military on July 3

(With AFP)