Mursi faces verdict on May 7 in ‘Qatar espionage’ case
Former president of Egypt could get the death sentence if convicted
Cairo: An Egyptian court on Saturday adjourned until May 7 a verdict in a case in which deposed Islamist president Mohammad Mursi is charged with harming national security by leaking state documents to his Gulf ally Qatar.
Chief judge of the Cairo Criminal Court Mohammad Shereen announced the postponement decision in a brief statement at a makeshift courtroom at the Police Academy on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital. No reason was cited for the delay.
Mursi and ten others are accused of jeopardising national security by purportedly leaking sensitive state information to Qatar during his one year in power.
Qatar is a staunch backer of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood. Ties have been strained between Egypt and Qatar since the army’s 2013 ouster of Mursi following massive street protests against his rule.
Hearings in the case, dubbed ‘espionage with Qatar’ opened in February 2015. Three co-defendants, including a Jordanian national working for the Doha-based broadcaster Al Jazeera, were tried in absentia.
Mursi appeared in Saturday’s brief session wearing a red uniform, a distinct attire in Egypt for inmates on death row. Last year, he was sentenced to death in a separate case on charges of orchestrating a big prison escape during the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime president Hosni Mubarak. Mursi was also sentenced to life after being convicted of conspiring with foreign organisations for the jailbreak.
The ‘Qatar spying’ trial is one of several in which Mursi is charged with multiple criminal charges. If convicted, he could be punished by death.
Mursi, a senior leader in the now-outlawed Brotherhood, is being tried in another case related to insulting the judiciary. He insists he remains the rightful president of Egypt.
