Egypt postpones trial of 292 defendants accused of targeting Sisi

An Egyptian military court has adjourned until 15 August a trial held for 292 defendants who are accused of taking part in an attempt to assassinate President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and former Saudi crown prince Mohammad Bin Nayef.

Prosecutors also charged the defendants with murdering three judges in the North Sinai city of Arish and attacking a hotel where the judges tasked to supervise the 2015 parliamentary elections were staying. Two judges were killed as a result as well as four security personnel and one civilian.

They are also accused of monitoring and targeting military personnel.

Egypt: Sisi pardons 719 prisoners

Egypt has repeatedly come under heavy criticism from international rights activists and organsiations who have condemned Al-Sisi’s use of mass trials to convict opposition members and journalists.

Al-Sisi came to power in a military coup in 2013 and has since thrown the country’s first freely elected civilian president, Mohamed Morsi, in to jail and outlawed the political party from which he hails, the Muslim Brotherhood.