CAIRO
Backers of Egypt's army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday made their presence strongly felt outside an eastern Cairo courthouse where ousted president Mohamed Morsi is being tried on charges of inciting the killing of demonstrators in late 2012.
Al-Sisi's supporters were keen on appearing on TV cameras airing the trial, carrying photos of the top general and chanting against Morsi.
One of al-Sisi backers raised a banner reading "people demand justice for the Ittihadiiya martyrs".
Outside the courthouse, supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which Morsi hails, were nowhere to be found.
Morsi – along with 14 other defendants, including several other high-ranking Muslim Brotherhood officials – face charges of inciting the murder of protesters outside Cairo's Ittihadiya presidential palace in December 2012.
Seven of the trial defendants are being tried in absentia.
Opponents of the ousted president had tried to attack Morsi's lawyer Mohamed Selim al-Awa outside the courthouse on Saturday.
Morsi was removed from office – and subsequently imprisoned – by Egypt's military last July following protests against his presidency.
He did not show up to a second trial session on the same case on January 8. At the time, security officials cited "bad weather" as the reason for their apparent failure to transfer Morsi to the trial venue in Cairo.
In previous court sessions, Morsi has insisted that he still represents Egypt's legitimate president, refusing to recognize the trial's legitimacy.
By Ahmed Attia
englishnews@aa.com.tr
