Morsi’s detention renewed for 30 days

Ousted President Mohamed Morsi’s detention was renewed for another 30 days on Sunday, the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported.

The state-run news agency said Morsi is detained pending investigations into charges that he stormed local prisons, caused damage to them, and liberated prisoners, in particular the Wadi al-Natrun Prison during the January 25 uprising in 2011.

The Wadi al-Natroun prison case was sent from the Ismailia Misdemeanor Court to the public prosecutor in June 2012 so that further investigations could be carried out. Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Gaza Strip’s Hamas were implicated in the escape of members of their groups from jail in 2011. 

Morsi has been held incommunicado since his ouster by the Armed Forces on July 3. He also faces charges of spying alongside Hamas in order to conduct violent attacks in Egypt on police stations and officers. He is also charged with working with Hamas on the premeditated murder and kidnap of policemen.

Morsi’s detention has been subject of controversy since his ouster on July 3. Since then he has been detained in an unidentified Armed Forces facility despite calls by various international players that his whereabouts be disclosed.

Since his arrest, Morsi has only met with Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief. She said she engaged in a deep conversation with the deposed president in late August.

Meanwhile, the Alexandria prosecution renewed the detention of prominent Muslim Brotherhood leader Sobhi Saleh for 15 days pending investigations.

Saleh has been charged with incitement of violence in connection with the July 5 clashes at Alexandria's Sidi Gaber train station, which quickly gained notoriety after a video circulated appearing to show supporters of Morsi throwing opponents from a several-meter-high building.