Mursi's defence adds alleged SCAF "leaks" to evidence in espionage case

Saturday 06-12-2014 04:29 PM
Mursi's defence adds alleged SCAF

Ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi stands behind bars during his trial at a court in Cairo, May 8, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer

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CAIRO, Dec 6 (Aswat Masriya) – A lawyer of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi presented to court on Saturday alleged recordings of members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) discussing a legal description for Mursi’s detention period as evidence in the case.

The alleged recordings went viral on social media networks on Thursday night, stirring controversy. They include discussions on how to alter the description of Mursi's detention place from a military to an interior ministry-affiliated prison to avoid a loophole that could result in a court decision to free Mursi.

The prosecution told Montaser al-Zayat, one of the lawyers representing Mursi in court, that the alleged leaks are currently being investigated.

Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat ordered on Saturday the Supreme State Security Prosecution to investigate the alleged leaks “to find out who is behind the incident.”

Mursi and 35 other defendants are facing court on the charges of espionage, disclosing state secrets to foreign countries, funding terrorism, conducting military training to serve an international branch of the Brotherhood, and "endangering the independence, unity and safety of the state."

The court postponed the trial to Sunday.

Other defendants in the trial include Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, his deputies Khairat al-Shater and Mahmoud Ezzat, as well as other group leaders and former presidential advisers. Sixteen defendants are being tried in absentia.

The former president, ousted since July 2013, is implicated in a group of other court cases. He is being tried for inciting the killing of protesters outside the presidential palace during his tenure in December 2012, insulting the judiciary, and escaping from the Wadi al-Natroun Prison during the 18-day January 25 uprising in 2011.

Mursi, two of his aides and eight others were referred to trial on September 7 over new espionage charges which involve leaking classified national intelligence to the Qatari intelligence.

The prosecutor general's office said Mursi, the head of his presidential office Ahmed Abdelatti and his personal secretary  Amin al-Srifi leaked the intelligence with the help of eight "spies" and in exchange for a million dollars, adding that they were carrying out the instructions of the "terrorist" Muslim Brotherhood international organisation.

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