CAIRO
An Egyptian court on Sunday adjourned to Tuesday the trial of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and 14 other defendants on charges of inciting the murder of opposition demonstrators in 2012, a judicial source said, attributing the postponement decision to adverse weather.
The Sunday hearing was adjourned as Morsi could not be flown to the eastern Cairo's Police Academy, where the trial is held, from southern Cairo's Al-Aqrab maximum-security prison, to where he was taken following a separate trial session last month on jailbreak charges, the source said.
"Adverse weather has prevented Morsi's transfer from prison to the court venue by helicopter," the source told Anadolu Agency. "Under the law, all defendants in custody should attend the hearing. Otherwise, it should be postponed," he added.
This was the second time a session in this trial was postponed due to bad weather. On January 8, Morsi could not be flown to Cairo from Burg al-Arab prison in Alexandria, also because of the same reason.
Morsi and 14 other defendants – including several top Muslim Brotherhood leaders – are charged with inciting the murder of opposition demonstrators during clashes that broke out between Morsi's supporters and opponents outside Cairo's Ittihadiya presidential palace in late 2012.
Seven of the defendants are being tried in absentia.
A total of 11 people were killed in the clashes, but the case against Morsi and his fellow defendants only addresses the death of a reporter and two anti-Morsi protesters.
Morsi, who was ousted in July last year, is being tried in on other charges, including espionage, jailbreak and offending the judiciary.
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