Egypt court postpones appeal in Morsi trial

An appeals court in Egypt has put off until March 3 a request by lawyers to appoint new judges in trials involving the country’s deposed president, Mohamed Morsi.

Following a meeting on Saturday, the appeals court said it had decided to look into the request two days later on Monday so that some of Morsi’s co-defendants could be present.

Morsi and his co-defendants are standing trial on charges of breaking out of prison during the 2011 revolution. They are also accused of conspiring with foreign powers and movements to destabilize the North African country.

Defense lawyers for Morsi and his co-defendants have demanded that a panel of judges overseeing the trials in the two cases be changed after private conversations between the defendants and their lawyers were allegedly recorded and a local newspaper leaked one of them.

The lawyers also complained about a soundproof glass cage in which the defendants were being held during court hearings.

Earlier on Saturday, Morsi took part in a trial session on charges of inciting the killings of anti-government protesters outside the presidential palace in late 2012. The judges later adjourned the hearing until Sunday.

The ousted president has rejected all charges against him and has described himself as the legitimate president of Egypt.

Egypt has been experiencing unrelenting violence since the country’s first democratically-elected president Mohamed Morsi was ousted on July 3, 2013. Hundreds have lost their lives in the ensuing violence across the country.

Since then, Egypt’s military-backed government has launched a bloody crackdown on Morsi’s supporters and arrested thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members, including the party’s senior leaders.