Morsi trial for palace clashes adjourned to March 15

Cairo Criminal Court adjourned the trial of former President Mohamed Morsi and 14 other defendants — for inciting murder at the Ettehadiya Presidential Palace clashes in December 2012 — to March 15, state-owned portal EGYNews reported Thursday.

In a previous hearing, Mohamed al-Damaty, Essam al-Erian's lawyer had requested the presiding judge be changed, after Judge Ahmed Abouel Fotouh violated the law and revealed some of the details of the case in a television appearance.

The Ettehadiya case is one of several in which Morsi and other senior leaders of the Brotherhood have been implicated. Two other cases concern an escape from Tora prison during the January 25 revolution, as well as an espionage case in which Morsi and co-defendants stand accused of helping certain groups, including Palestinian Hamas, and endangering the country’s national security.

Investigations had proven that Essam al-Erian, Mohamed al-Beltagy and Wagdy Ghoneim publicly incited the forced dispersal of a sit-in that took place in front of the presidential palace. The defendants and their allies are also accused of attacking peaceful protesters, including journalist Al-Husseini Abu Deif — who was shot in the head — and holding hostages inside the palace.