Egypt court rejects call for new Morsi trial judges

CAIRO

An Egyptian court on Wednesday turned down a request by defense lawyers for new judges in two separate trials in which ousted president Mohamed Morsi is a defendant, a judicial source said.

The requests were submitted by lawyer Mohamed Abu-Leila, who represents several trial defendants, including leading Muslim Brotherhood member Mohamed al-Baltagi and Salafist preacher Safwat Hegazi.

Along with Morsi, both men face separate trials in which they stand accused of taking part in a 2011 mass jailbreak and "conspiring" with foreign parties to carry out terrorist attacks inside Egypt.

The source said that the court, which fined al-Beltagi and Hegazi $860 each, was expected to announce dates for the resumption of both trials.

In the first trial, Morsi and 35 co-defendants face charges of "conspiring" with Palestinian resistance group Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah to carry out "terrorist acts" inside Egypt.

In another case, Morsi and 130 co-defendants are accused of involvement in a mass jailbreak during Egypt's 2011 uprising that led to the ouster of autocratic president Hosni Mubarak.

The same judge, Shaaban al-Shami, presides over both trials.

Abu-Leila lodged his request for new trial judges after the presiding judge refused to remove soundproof glass cages in which the defendants were being held.

Morsi also faces a third trial in which he faces charges of inciting the murder of anti-government protesters in late 2012.

During all previous court appearances, Morsi has insisted that he still represents Egypt's "legitimate" president.

Like his co-defendants, Morsi insists that the charges arrayed against him are politically motivated.

Meanwhile, the same court also turned down a similar request by lawyers for Brotherhood leaders accused of "plotting to sow sedition."

In February, prosecutors referred 51 Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including group Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, to criminal court for allegedly setting up an "operations room" during last August's violent dispersal of a pro-Morsi sit-in in which hundreds of demonstrators were killed.

The defendants are accused of "masterminding a plot to sow chaos and storm and set fire to police stations, state institutions, public and private property and churches."

Prosecutors also accuse Brotherhood leaders of "coordinating with e-committees to disseminate doctored images of killed and wounded protesters."

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