Court adjourns Morsi retrial in prison break case

The Cairo Criminal Court on Monday decided to adjourn to Wednesday the retrial of ex-president Mohamad Morsi and 25 members of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood group over charges of assaulting security and police facilities in the case related to mass jail breaks back in 2011.

The court took the decision to listen to witnesses and their evidence in the case. Defendants were not able to attend Monday's court session.

In June 2015, Cairo Criminal Court issued a death sentence in the case against Morsi, MB supreme guide Mohamad Badie and other key figures of the terrorist group.

In November 2016, the Court of Cassation annulled the sentence and ordered a retrial of the defendants.

Morsi and 130 co-defendants face charges of damaging and setting fire to prison buildings, murder and attempted murder, and looting prison weapons depots while allowing prisoners from the "Hamas movement, Lebanon's Hezbollah, jihadists, Brotherhood [members] and other criminals" to break out of jails.

The charges are linked to the escape of more than 20,000 inmates from three Egyptian prisons during the early days of the 2011 revolution.

Prosecutors said over 800 fighters from Gaza had infiltrated Egypt, using RPGs and heavy armaments to storm three prisons, abducting four policemen and killing several other policemen and inmates.

Others accused in the prison break case include senior Brotherhood leaders Mohamed Saad El-Katatni, Essam El-Erian, Mohamed El-Beltagy, and pro-Brotherhood preacher Safwat Hegazy.

Source : Mena