Morsi’s Defence Pushes For Charges To Be Dismissed After Alleged Leaks
The defence of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi requested Saturday in a court hearing that leaked recordings of top post-3 July leaders be investigated for their authenticity, in hope that charges might be dropped against the ousted president.
The leaks, first appearing on YouTube on Thursday, constitute a number of alleged conversations between top military leaders after the ouster of Morsi, discussing how to manipulate the legal status of Morsi’s detention.
According to the leaks, the authenticity of which have not been independently established, Morsi was being held in a military facility while he should have been held in an interior ministry facility, as he was being tried in front of a civilian court.
Morsi’s lawyer, Montaser El-Zayat, told Ahram Online that if the leaks are proven authentic, proving that the documents behind Morsi’s detention are fabricated, then Morsi’s detention is null and void. All procedures taken following Morsi’s then illegal detention, according to El-Zayat, would also be void, and all charges against him would have to be dropped.
El-Zayat said that he downloaded the alleged leaks from YouTube to present as evidence to the court, as well as two before and after maps from Google Earth, showing the military facility where Morsi was detained before it was divided to include a civilian facility.
El-Zayat added that he requested the court to investigate the alleged leaks, in place of the prosecution, for “justice purposes,” as the prosecution is also part of the alleged conspiracy.
“[The prosecution] can’t be both an accused and an investigator in the case at the same time,” he added.
In a statement, the prosecution stated that the Muslim Brotherhood have been “fabricating audios and videos using advanced technology” due to the “state of despair among their leaders.” “They aim to influence the judges looking into claims against Brotherhood members” read the statement.
The prosecutor-general has started extensive investigations into the source of the recordings.
The court adjourned Morsi’s trial, along with 35 others, to Sunday.
The 36 defendants are accused of collaborating with foreign organisations, namely Hamas in Gaza, to commit acts of terrorism in Egypt, of revealing defence secrets to a foreign country, funding terrorists and organising militant training “to achieve the purpose of the international organisation of the Brotherhood,” according to a statement from the prosecution.
Morsi was ousted on 3 July 2013, after one year in office, following three-day mass protests.
Since his ouster, Morsi’s group, the Muslim Brotherhood was labelled terrorist by the cabinet. Many of his supporters have since been arrested and prosecuted.
Source : Ahram online
