Egypt Prosecutor Orders Mursi Held over Involvement in 2011 Jailbreak

An Egyptian court ordered on Friday that ousted president Mursi be detained over contact with Palestinian resistance figure Hamas in the 2011 jailbreak incident.Mohammad Mursi

The ousted president will be questioned on whether he contacted Hamas over prison breaks in early 2011, in which political inmates held during the regime of Hosni Mubarak escaped.

The accusations are being investigated by a Cairo court that was tasked to determine how inmates broke out of a prison late January 2011, after allegations that Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood sought the help of Hamas.

Commenting over the order, Gehad El-Haddad, a spokesman for the Brotherhood denounced the move, saying Mubarak’s regime was “signaling ‘we’re back in full force.'”

On July 23, a court had said Hamas fighters facilitated the escape of prisoners during the tumultuous 18-day uprising that forced out Mubarak.

At the time, Mursi told a television station Egyptians had helped the prisoners escape.

For its part, Hamas denounced the order, describing it as dangerous move.
“Hamas condemns this move since it is based on the premise that the Hamas movement is hostile,” spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP.

“This is a dangerous development, which confirms that the current powers in Egypt are giving up on national causes and even using these issues to deal with other parties — first among them the Palestinian cause.”