The Supreme Military Court on Monday held the first hearing of Mohamed al-Zawahiri’s retrial. Zawahiri is the brother Ayman al-Zawahiri, the current leader of Al-Qaeda. Three others, against whom death and life sentences were issued in absentia, stand accused in the case known as “The Returnees from Albania.”
The court decided to postpone the second hearing until 31 July, and ordered the defendents to be kept in custody.
The defendants denied the charges against them, which include criminal conspiracy and attempt to topple the regime.
Arguing a lack of justification for keeping them in custody, the defense team requested the defendants' release and asked to delay the hearing to obtain more information about the case.
Following the 25 January revolution, the court accepted the defendants’ request to challenge the sentences and retry the case.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
