An Egyptian court adjourned the murder trial of deposed president Mohamed Morsi to February 1, yesterday (Wednesday). The court cited "weather conditions" saying they prevented the former President's transport from his prison to court. The showing had been scheduled as the second hearing in Morsi's trial, after an initial court appearance in November in which he denounced the tribunal and insisted he was still the country's president. Morsi is accused of inciting the killings of opposition protesters in December 2012 outside the presidential palace. Melissa Chemam has more.
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RFI English, January 9th, 2014
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The announcement was made by the presiding judge, Judge Ahmed Sabry Youssef, yesterday.
Mohamed Morsi is being held in a prison situated about 40 miles outside the Mediterranean town of Alexandria, the second most-populated city in Egypt, which was plunged into heavy fog yesterday morning.
According to Egypt's Interior ministry, the pilot of the helicopter meant to transport the high-profiled prisoner refused to take off because of those bad weather conditions.
Morsi's party, the Muslim Brotherhood, issued a statement saying the explanation was laughable.
They point out that no regular flights were affected by the heavy fog in Alexandria.
They also point to the fact that some of Morsi's co-defendant were brought to court, a police academy in the outskirts of Cairo.
Morsi's party accused the authorities of holding him in an undisclosed location...
His lawyers also complained they have not been able to visit him for a month.
Meanwhile, some of Morsi supporters rallied in Cairo to protest at the trial.
The police fired tear gas at the demonstrators and 17 of them were arrested.
The defendants still claim the trial is a political conspiracy and remain on hunger strike.
Mohamed Morsi and the 14 other defendants are accused of inciting the killings of opposition protesters in December 2012.
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