CAIRO

For the second time, judges presiding over the trial of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and 18 other defendants withdrew from trial proceedings on Wednesday.

The judges announced the move after Wednesday's opening court session ended in a war of words between the defendants and media personnel covering the event.

Defendants in the case – including Badie, deputies Khairat al-Shater and Rashad Bayoumi, and the Brotherhood's Justice Party (FJP) Secretary-General Mohamed al-Beltagi; and FJP leader Saad al-Katatni – shouted from inside the dock: "Down with military rule!" and "Free revolutionaries, we will continue our path!"

They also flashed the Rabaa sign, the four-finger salute commemorating the hundreds of protesters killed in the bloody August 14 dispersal of a sit-in staged by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya Square.

In response to the defendants' chanting, several media men began counter-chanting, "Down with the rule of the [Brotherhood] supreme leader."

Verbal altercations also erupted between members of the defendants' families and journalists, prompting the judges to briefly suspend trial procedures.

The judges later summoned defense lawyers to their chambers, where they asked them to urge their clients to remain calm.

When judges returned to the courtroom, however, the defendants stepped up their chanting against the trial's legitimacy, prompting the chief judge to announce his recusal decision.   

In a statement, judges expressed their "unease" with presiding over the trial and requested that they be allowed to recuse themselves.

Under Egyptian law, judges can recuse themselves from a trial without providing reasons for the move.

It was the second time for judges to withdraw from Badie's ongoing trial citing "uneasiness."

The defendants are accused of inciting the murder of anti-Brotherhood protesters during June 30 clashes between supporters and opponents of ousted president Morsi outside the Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters.

The defendants, along with many independent observers, dismiss the charges as "politically-motivated."

Wednesday's trial session was Badie's second court appearance since his arrest in mid-August.

On Tuesday, he arrived at the courthouse to answer charges that he had incited deadly clashes in July on Giza's Bahr al-Aazam Street. The court later adjourned the case to February 11.

Judges reportedly adjourned Badie's trial to February in order to hear witness testimonies and give lawyers additional time in which to review the case.

by Walid Fouda

englishnews@aa.com.tr