The Cairo Court of Appeal set 16 February as the start date for the trial of deposed President Mohamed Morsy, Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie, and 34 other MB leaders, all on charges of collaborating with foreign organizations.
Among other peculiar charges, the group is accused of "taking courses on how to start rumors" and opening "channels of communication with the West by Qatar and Turkey," presumably for espionage purposes.
They also face charges of collaborating with foreign organizations with intentions of committing terrorist acts in Egypt, disclosing defense secrets to a foreign country, financing terrorism, military training to achieve the goals of the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood and committing acts compromising the independence, unity and territorial integrity of the country.
Other defendants in the case are: Khairat al-Shater (MB deputy leader), Mahmoud Ezzat (current acting Supreme Guide in hiding), Saad al-Katatny (former head of the dissolved parliament), Guidance Bureau members Mohamed al-Beltagy, Essam al-Erian and Saad al-Husseiny, Ahmed Abdel Aaty (Morsy's office director), the former head of the Presidency Bureau Mohamed Refaa al-Tahtawy and his deputy Assad al-Sheikha.
Investigations say that “the international organization of the Brotherhood carried out acts of terror in Egypt in order to spread chaos and planned terrorist attacks. Among its clauses is the alliance between leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt with some foreign organizations, the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, the military arm of the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Lebanese Party Hezbollah which is closely related to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, in addition and other organizations inside and outside the country, who believe in extremist doctrines , and smuggle weapons from the western side of the border through the desert trails.”
The investigation also mentioned that there are "means of infiltration of the MB members to the Gaza Strip through secret tunnels, with the help of members of Hamas, to receive military, martial arts and the use of weapons training by members of the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard." Those MB member s then return to Egypt.
According to investigations, defendants also face the charges of collaborating with other elements belonging to extremist groups in Sinai, to implement terrorist acts."
"MB international organization and some foreign countries have supported the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, by transferring the funds necessary for them to carry out the planned criminal acts and spread chaos in the country," investigation claims.
In other news, the court set 5 February for the trial of 18 defendants in the violent events that took place in Shubra during pro-MB demonstrations after the violent dispersal of the Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
