Egyptian court adjourns trial of 536 defendants

The Assiut Military Court yesterday postponed the trial of 536 defendants accused of involvement in riots and violence in the north of the Minya province in 2013.
The case was adjourned to 13 June.

The summer of 2013 witnessed the ouster of the country’s first democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi and subsequent clashes between pro-Morsi protesters and the coup authorities. Violence escalated in August 2013 after Egyptian security forces violently dispersed the Rabaa Al-Adawiyaa and Nahda Square sit-ins which were staged by pro-democracy protesters.

In a statement issued yesterday, a judicial source said that the decision to delay the trial was due to the absence of the defendants who are in the authorities’ custody, and because the defendants are involved in three cases.