The trial of ousted President Mohamed Morsi was soon adjourned on Monday to January 8, amid protests by Morsi and his lawyers.
The Cairo Criminal Court was hearing the case of Morsi and 14 other Muslim Brotherhood members, accused of inciting violence which led to the deaths of five protesters and wounding of almost 700 people outside the President Palace in December 2012.
The court ordered that all 15 men should remain in prison. Morsi will be transferred to Borg Al-Arab Prison on the outskirts of Alexandria for “preventative detention”.
Others on trial included the Deputy Chairman of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, Essam El-Erian; senior FJP member Mohamed El-Beltagy; conservative preacher Wagdi Ghoneim, and activists Abdel Rahman Ezz, Ahmed Al-Mogheerm and Alaa Hamza.
As Judge Ahmed Sabry Youssef read out the defendants’ names, Morsi replied that he did not not recognise the court and declared, “I am the legitimate President.” The defendants’ lawyers then chanted: “The people salute the President’s steadfastness!”
The trial was then suspended by Youssef. Minor scuffles broke out between supporters and opponents of Morsi.
Meanwhile, in Alexandria 18 people were arrested following a clash between pro- and anti-Morsi demonstrators.
Morsi’s hearing came a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry declared that Washington is “committed to work with and we will continue our cooperation with the interim government.”
While he played down the issue of American aid to Egypt, which last month Washington said it was “recalibrating,” he assured Cairo that direct aid would continue in areas such as health, education and “counterterrorism.”
During a six-hour visit to the Egyptian capital Kerry met with Minister of Defence General Abdel al-Sisi, reiterating US support for the interim government’s “roadmap” to democracy.
“The roadmap is being carried out to the best of our perception,” Mr Kerry said.
“We support you in this tremendous transformation that Egypt is undergoing. We know it’s difficult. We want to help. We’re prepared to do so.”
He added, “the US-Egypt partnership will be strongest when Egypt is represented by a democratically elected government.”