Top Brotherhood leader appears in court
By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa
09.12.2013
Cairo (dpa) - The leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood appeared on Monday for the first day of his court case, in which he faces charges of inciting violence against opposition protesters amid the July ouster of former president Mohammed Morsi.
It was Mohamed Badie's first appearance since he was arrested on August 20. After statements, the trial was adjourned until February 16, when the court is due to announce witnesses.
Badie and 14 other Islamists are charged with inciting clashes in July in Giza, near Cairo, in which at least five people were killed and 100 injured.
Thirteen of them were present at the court, in the police institute inside the Tora prison complex in southern Cairo. One defendant was being tried in absentia.
"My group and I are the victims and not the accused," Badie said during the session, according to the state-run al-Ahram newspaper.
Nationwide violence erupted after the army toppled Morsi on July 3 following days of widespread protests in which millions took to the streets demanding his ouster.
The military-backed authorities have rounded up hundreds of Islamists over the past five months.
Badie faces incitement charges in several other cases. He was arrested one week after security forces violently dispersed two major pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo, in which hundreds were killed.
He is expected to appear in court on Wednesday on separate charges of inciting the killing of demonstrators outside the group's headquarters in Cairo.
Senior Brotherhood member Mohamed al-Beltagui described the trial as "void." The judge asked him not to raise his hands in the four-finger sign that has come to symbolize the security crackdown on Islamist protesters in August.
Al-Beltagui argued that the cases are political and one-sided. Al-Beltagui's daughter and Badie's son were killed in the security crackdown in August and he said the current rulers would not allow trials for their killers.
"I will prove to you that the trial is invalid. You cannot charge those who killed my daughter and Badie's son," al-Beltagui said addressing the judge.
Morsi is also standing trial, on charges of inciting the killing of protesters outside the presidential palace in December 2012. His trial began last month.
Elsewhere, in the city of Banha, some 50 kilometres north of Cairo, a court sentenced three members of the Brotherhood to life in prison for attacking people and security during a pro-Morsi protest in the city.
Separately, prosecutors ordered 25 protesters, including leading activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah, to stand trial for defying a law regulating protests that went into effect last month.
They also face charges of rioting, disturbing the peace, disrupting public security and resisting authorities.
Abdel-Fattah played a key role before and during the 2011 uprising that forced former ruler Hosny Mubarak out of power.
The new law requires organizers to give a three-day notice to police before any protest. Authorities then have the power to ban any demonstrations they deem as a threat to public peace.
Critics say the measure is aimed at stifling those who oppose the military-backed government, which has vowed to enforce the law, saying it is necessary to stop violent protests and restore security.
Meanwhile, clashes erupted for the second day between pro-Morsi students and security forces around al-Azhar University, in eastern Cairo. The university is linked to Egypt's main centre of Islamic learning.
Footage from the private ONTV satellite channel showed black smoke and tear gas in the area of the university.
The report said security forces surrounded the university to disperse the students.
Al-Azhar university, which has seen repeated violence since the school year began in September, is believed to be a stronghold of Islamist movements, including Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.
The Interior Ministry said that about 200 students, who belong to the Muslim Brotherhood, blocked the road in front of the university and attacked police forces with stones and petrol bombs.
Police forces managed to disperse them using tear gas, pushing them back inside the campus.
A group of rioters were arrested, the ministry said, without specifying a number.
