Ousted President Mohammed Morsi refused to wear a prison jumpsuit, entering the caged dock in a dark business suit as his co-defendants applauded. He defiantly questioned the legitimacy of the court and proclaimed himself still Egypt’s leader. His fellow Muslim Brotherhood members chanted, “Down with military rule!”
Morsi’s long-awaited trial got off to a chaotic start Monday, with outbursts and interruptions, and it was quickly adjourned until Jan. 8.
The dramatic first public appearance for Morsi since the July 3 military coup that removed him from power was meant to be a step toward due process. Instead, it highlighted the challenges facing Egypt’s interim authorities as they attempt to close a chapter of his presidency, while his Islamist supporters seek to disrupt the effort.
Morsi and 14 co-defendants — seven of whom are still at large — are charged with inciting the killing of protesters who massed outside the presidential palace in December 2012 and demanded that he call off a referendum on a new Islamist-drafted constitution. Brotherhood members attacked a sit-in by the protesters, sparking clashes that left 10 people dead.
Before Monday’s session began, silent video broadcast on state TV showed Morsi arriving in a minibus outside the makeshift courtroom at a police academy in eastern Cairo. He wore the dark suit, light shirt and no tie, flanked by burly policemen.
A smiling Morsi later walked into the cage in the court — still in the same garb, unlike his co-defendants in white prison jumpsuits. They stood in two lines like a presidential honour guard, applauding and raising their hands in a four-fingered gesture — commemorating the hundreds of his supporters killed when security forces moved to clear protest encampments in August. Another defendant — an aide held with him in the secret military location — also was in a suit.
Feisty and healthy-looking after four months of secret detention, the 62-year-old Morsi immediately started talking even before Judge Ahmed Sabry Youssef gave him the floor.
“What is going on now is a cover for a military coup,” Morsi shouted in a voice that echoed through the courtroom. “I warn everybody. ... I wish that the Egyptian judiciary would not become one day a cover for the military coup.”
The defence lawyers clapped. Chants from his fellow defendants followed: “Down, down with military rule!”
Youssef tried to calm the raucous scene.
“This is enough. The court wants to carry on and provide you with the guarantees necessary” for a fair trial, he said.
But Morsi repeated at least four times, “I am the president of the republic.”
He rejected the proceedings and said he had been forced to attend. “I am here by force and against my will. The coup is a crime and treason,” he said.
Morsi refused to enter a plea and demanded that he be given a microphone, although his voice was loud enough for everyone in the courtroom to hear.
“This is not my court,” Morsi went on. “This court, with all due respect, doesn't have jurisdiction over the president. There is a military coup in this country. The leaders of this coup must be brought to trial according to the constitution.”
