January 28, 2014 -- Updated 1135 GMT (1935 HKT)
Former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy and his co-defendants arrived at
a Cairo court Tuesday to face charges related to a 2011 jailbreak,
state media reported. FULL STORY
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CLASHES ERUPT
Ousted Egyptian leader Mohamed Morsy denounces trial
January 28, 2014 -- Updated 1542 GMT (2342 HKT)
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy is shown on January 30, 2013, in Berlin.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Mohamed Morsy demands to know where he is, who's in charge at hearing in Cairo
- Morsy allegedly broke out of a prison in 2011, before he became president
- He became president in 2012 but was deposed in a military coup one year later
- Elsewhere in Cairo, an interior ministry aide is shot and killed
Speaking from inside a
soundproof glass enclosure, Morsy demanded to know where he was and who
was in charge. His lawyers explained to the judge that he was angry
because he had not been allowed to see his lawyers or family.
Nineteen Muslim Brotherhood members, including Morsy, allegedly broke out of the prison in 2011, state-run EGYNews reported.
At the time, the Muslim
Brotherhood was banned in the country. But the Islamist group became
Egypt's most powerful political force after longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak
was toppled in February 2011.
Clashes erupt at Egypt protests
Morsy and dozens of
co-defendants are accused of collaborating with the Palestinian Islamist
group Hamas and the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah to escape from the
Wadi-Natroun prison, the state-owned Ahram Online news agency said.
The defendants are also accused of attempting to murder police officers, Ahram Online said.
'I am not assured' of judge's fairness
The judge, who controlled the sound, allowed Morsy to address the court in the afternoon.
Morsy said he had not
been allowed to see his lawyers since November. But he had been visited
repeatedly by "investigative judges" whom he warned about taking part in
what he sees as a farce.
"It's not enough for the
judge to be fair, but for the subject to be assured of the judge's
fairness, and I am not assured," he said.
The other Muslim
Brotherhood defendants were placed in a separate enclosure and held up a
four-finger salute to show solidarity with the group.
The judge adjourned the hearing until February 22.
The trial is one of
several that Morsy is facing. He has also been charged with raiding
other prisons, killing soldiers and officers in Rafah, and incitement to
murder in connection with protests against his rule in 2012.
A short tenure
Morsy became Egypt's first democratically elected president in 2012 after the fall of Mubarak, who had ruled Egypt for 29 years.
But just one year later, Morsy was deposed in a military coup. The U.S. State Department called for the military to release him, saying his detention was politically motivated.
Opponents accused Morsy of pursuing an Islamist agenda and excluding other factions from the government.
But supporters said that
he wasn't given a fair chance and that the military has returned to the
authoritarian practices of Mubarak.
Egyptian official killed
Morsy's trial wasn't the only significant news out of Egypt on Tuesday.
A senior aide to Egypt's interior minister was killed in the Giza area of Cairo, a presidential spokesman said.
Gen. Mohammed Said was shot and killed near the Pyramids, spokesman Ehab Badaway said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Last September, the interior minister himself was targeted in an assassination attempt.
Egypt's Interior
Ministry oversees the country's police force, which has led a fierce and
sometimes deadly crackdown against protesters over the past several
months.
Journalist Sarah Sirgany and CNN's Yousuf Basil contributed to this report.
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