Verdict In Trial Of Egypt Activist Doma Postponed To 3 June

Proceedings in the ongoing trial of activist Ahmed Doma, who is charged with “insulting” Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, has been postponed to 3 June, when a final verdict in the case will be announced.

Doma is set to remain in detention pending a final ruling.

Doma, a staunch critic of the Muslim Brotherhood group from which President Morsi hails, was arrested in late April after he described Morsi as “a killer” in televised comments.

According to Al-Ahram’s Arabic-language news website, Doma told the presiding judge in Monday’s court hearing that he “did not mean the insult as it is defined by law, but rather [meant it] as a political opinion.”

“I expressed my personal political opinion that [Morsi] had lost his legitimacy and that he was directly responsible for the death of protesters, since he is the president… and head of the High Police Council,” Doma told the court.

Egyptian Lawyers Syndicate head Sameh Ashour is heading up the activist’s defence team.

Doma’s lawyers have called for their client’s acquittal, saying the case against him was one of “libel and defamation” caused by Egypt’s current state of political polarisation.

On Monday, dozens of members of Egypt’s 6 April Youth Movement converged outside the New Cairo courthouse in which Doma is being tried in order to voice solidarity with the detained activist.

Ahram