4th Nov 2013 11:27
CAIRO (Alliance News) - The trial of Egypt's toppled Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, was halted shortly after it began Monday when defendants disrupted the proceedings with chants against the court.
Morsi told the presiding judge: "I am the legitimate president and I demand the court end this farce. I cannot accept that the noble judiciary take part in this coup."
Defendants began chanting "Down with military rule."
It is not clear when the trial will resume.
Egypt's first democratically elected president faces charges of inciting the killing of 10 opposition protesters in December. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
He is being tried alongside 14 other defendants from his administration and his Muslim Brotherhood group.
This is Morsi's first public appearance since he was ousted by the army on July 3. The trial is not being broadcast on television.
He was transferred by a helicopter from a secret location to the Police Academy at the outskirts of Cairo, where the trial is taking place.
Local media said the judge ordered Morsi to wear the white outfit required by defendants during the court hearings, after he refused to change out of his blue clothes in the morning.
Security was tight outside the courtroom set up at the academy. Hundreds of policemen backed by armoured vehicles were deployed around the complex and on rooftops.
Dozens of Morsi supporters gathered outside the court, carrying posters reading "Abusing the people's will," and chanting "Down with military rule."
Elsewhere, scuffles erupted in front of the Constitutional Court in southern Cairo between Morsi's supporters and opponents.
Security forces managed to separate the two groups. Dozens of Morsi supporters blocked the road in front of the court to protest his trial.
Police and army forces blocked Tahrir Square and areas near Cairo University to prevent Morsi supporters from staging sit-ins.
The Brotherhood called the charges against Morsi "fabricated" and urged its followers to rally in large numbers to the court building, raising fears of violence.
Islamists have denounced Morsi's overthrow as a coup. The army says they responded to the will of the people after millions took to the streets demanding that Morsi step down.
The army followed Morsi's overthrow with a deadly crackdown on Islamist groups that strained relations with the United States, which withheld hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Egypt.
US Secretary of State John Kerry sought Sunday on his first visit to Egypt since Morsi's toppling to downplay the rift, saying US-Egyptian relations are not defined by military assistance.
Amnesty International called on Egyptian authorities to grant Morsi "a fair trial, including the right to challenge the evidence against him in court." It warned: "Failing to do so would further call into question the motives behind his trial."
The London-based group said it has concerns that justice is being undermined due to irregularities in the legal process in the trials of other Muslim Brotherhood leaders.
Copyright dpa