Morsi, secular camp in dock for ´insulting´ Egypt judiciary

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AFP
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Morsi, secular camp in dock for ´insulting´ Egypt judiciary
CAIRO: Ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and several secular figures behind Egypt´s 2011 uprising went on trial on Saturday, as the authorities kept a crackdown on all forms of 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 longtime autocrat 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 even some Sisi supporters -- stand accused of contempt of court in comments made in parliament, speeches, on social media or in interviews.

Morsi was brought to court in the blue prison uniform of a convict, and was separated from the other defendants in the courtroom, standing alone in a metal cage.

"I refuse to be tried because this court has no jurisdiction to judge me," said Morsi, who has defiantly rejected all the courts that have tried him so far.

"Since November, my family and my lawyers have been prevented from visiting me."

Seven other defendants, including secular as well as Islamist activists, appeared in a separate metal cage.

"The crackdown against the opposition is only intensifying and the judiciary is very much at the forefront of this crackdown," 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 the downfall of Mubarak.