The trial of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi has been adjourned after officials said bad weather had stopped his helicopter from taking off, the BBC reports. Other defendants arrived at the police compound by helicopter but Mr Morsi was said to still be in jail in Alexandria. One of the defendants shouted in court that the trial was unconstitutional. Mr Morsi and 14 other Muslim Brotherhood figures are accused of inciting the killing of protesters outside a presidential palace in 2012. He was removed by the army last July after demonstrations against his rule.
His supporters have since held regular protests calling for his reinstatement. A helicopter carrying some of the defendants arrived at the National Police Academy complex in Cairo for the hearing early on Wednesday, correspondents said. State media had initially said Mr Morsi was also there; however, state news agency Mena later said his arrival had been delayed by bad weather. The court session began at about 11:15 (09:15 GMT) but was immediately adjourned until 1 February, a decision that the presiding judge put down to weather conditions, the BBC’s Orla Guerin reports. Mr Morsi is being held more than 130 miles (210km) away at Burj al-Arab prison west of Alexandria, where the weather was cloudy and windy.
But the gusts were not strong enough to affect flights, reporters said. There was no mention of weather-related cancellations on the city airport’s website. The deputy leader of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, Essam al-Erian, shouted from the cage in which the defendants were being held that he did not recognise the trial’s legitimacy and they had been brought to court against their will in the early hours of the morning.
Mr Morsi would refuse to attend the trial as his position was the same, Mr Erian said.Security outside the Cairo police compound was very heavy. Egyptian media said thousands of police were on alert and TV pictures showed some pro-Morsi protesters being arrested as they waved the four-finger salute adopted by supporters of the ousted president. Tear gas and live fire were used to disperse demonstrators in the Nasr City area of Cairo, witnesses told the BBC. Several more protesters were detained during disturbances which saw tyres and some vehicles set alight. When Mr Morsi does return to court, he will be asked to appoint a lawyer, which he refused to do during his initial appearance. He also faces several other charges. At another court hearing set for the end of January, he is accused with some 130 others of murdering policemen during a mass breakout from a Cairo prison in January 2011 shortly before the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak.
Human rights groups have dismissed some of the allegations against him as preposterous. Egyptian officials insist Mr Morsi will be given a fair trial but lawyers trying to defend him say they have been denied access to him. There were chaotic scenes when he first appeared in court in early November. He insisted he was still the president and was being held against his will. Rejecting the legitimacy of the court he refused to wear a prison uniform.
