Morsi calls press conference after 57 days of silence

Ousted Egyptian President Dr Mohamed Morsi asked his defence team to organise a press conference today in order for him to respond to a security official’s allegations that he “gained his presidential post in exchange for spying”.

This is the first statement made by Morsi after more than 57 days of silence despite the fact that his trial was postponed once again, this time to November 15.

According to an Anadolu news correspondent who attended the session, Morsi refused to make any statements from behind a glass cell and directed his comments at Adel Azab, the general in charge of the Muslim Brotherhood’s file in the ministry of interior, which also decided to postpone the trial.

“I won’t go into detail; I reject this trial,” he said. “In my capacity as citizen and president, I demand to file a lawsuit against Azab.”

During Tuesday’s session, security official Azab told the court that the Muslim Brotherhood – the group from which Morsi hails – had contested the 2012 presidential election “in an attempt to control the state with the goal of undermining the society and institutions to serve Israel’s interests”.

The prosecution accused Morsi and 35 others of “spying for the benefit of foreign countries, disclosing information that is crucial to Egyptian national security and organising with Jihadist groups outside of Egypt in an attempt to carry out terrorist activity on Egyptian territory”.

Egyptian Public Prosecutor Hisham Barakat accused the Muslim Brotherhood of collaborating with the Palestinian group Hamas, the Lebanese-based group Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in an attempt to commit acts of “sabotage and terrorism in Egypt”.

The referral currently includes Morsi and seven of his top aides as well as a minister and governor during his time in office. The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, and two of his top aides are also under trial.