The Heliopolis Court of Misdemeanor decided Saturday to set the sentence hearing session for defendants accused of an attack on President Mohamed Morsy’s convoy to 8 September.
The Saturday session saw the court taking testimony from both the prosecution and the defense in the case. The case stems from a sit-in organized to protest events in Rafah and Dahshur, when a number of protestors attacked Morsy’s convoy as it left the presidential palace.
Nahed Mohamed Ali Negm, one of the defendants, said, “I went to the Palace in a peaceful demonstration, to protest the massacre of Rafah, in addition to the exacerbated [sectarian] strife in Dahshur between Muslims and Copts.”
She added that the protesters chanted and held banners condemning the events, but she was surprised when she was arrested with other protestors and detained without justification.
The defendant denied attacking the presidential convoy, demanding that videos of the demonstration be shown to prove her innocence.
The defense requested the defendants be released on the basis of the absence of evidence of actual crime, whether it is an assault on public officials or destruction, as well as the contradictions between statements made by defendants and witnesses and the physical evidence.
The defense stressed the insufficiency of the Public Prosecution investigations and the range of accusations, as well as the absence of evidence confirming the prosecution charges.
According to the defense, the incident happened when a number of citizens went to the presidency’s complaint office, but the staff refused to accept their complaints.
That prompted them to head to the presidential palace to express their opinion, when they were arrested without justification, the defense said.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
