CAIRO, Aug 23 (Aswat Masriya) - Former Presidential Spokesperson Yasser Ali was referred to criminal court on Saturday along with 12 other co-defendants.

The prosecution charged Ali with assisting former Prime Minister Hisham Qandil in escaping and evading judicial prosecution. He was also charged with joining the "terrorist" Muslim Brotherhood organisation.

The former spokesperson was arrested on 31 December 2013.

Ali, the coordinator of Morsi's presidential campaign in 2012, was the official spokesperson for the presidency until February 2013. He was later appointed head of the Egyptian Cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC).

He resigned on June 21, 2014, citing the country's "critical situation" as the reason for his resignation.