Ex-president and 25 others referred to criminal court for 'insulting judiciary'

Ahram Online, Sunday 19 Jan 2014

Fourth case in court for ousted president Morsi; Attorney General's referral is wildly varied, with accused including Islamist leaders, journalists, politicians, and a TV personality

Morsi
Deposed President Mohamed Morsi (Photo: AP)

Attorney General Hisham Barakat has referred deposed president Mohamed Morsi and 25 others to a criminal court for “insulting the judiciary.”

The former president is already facing three different trials for a variety of charges, including espionage and inciting violence.

The group of 25 also accused for insulting the judiciary is a varied mix of Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist leaders, political activists, journalists, television personalities and even a poet.

The Brotherhood and Islamist figures and leaders include ex-head of Egyptian Parliament Mohamed Saad El-Katatni; General Guide for the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Mahdi Akef; former Al-Shura Council members Gamal Gebril, Essam Sultan, Mohamed El-Beltagi, Sobhi Saleh, and Mohamed El-Omda; former Shura Council Legislative Committee deputy Taher Abdel Mohsen; Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya member Assem Abdel Magid; Islamist lawyer Montasser El-Zayat; and Islamic preacher Wagdy Ghoneim

Political activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah has also been included with the group. The prominent leftist already faces charges of violating a contentious protest law passed at the end of last year, as well a suspended sentence of one year for allegedly torching former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq's electoral headquarters.

The list of other defendants accused of insulting the judiciary includes political activist Mostafa El-Naggar; head of the liberal Egypt Freedom Party Amr Hamzawy; Egyptian poet Abdel-Rahman Qaradawi; reformist judge Noha El-Zeini; Nasserist journalist Abdel-Halim Qandeel; and notorious TV host Tawfik Okasha.

 

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