Trial of Egypt's Morsi due to begin

Egypt’s deposed President Mohamed Morsi is due to stand trial on Monday to face charges of inciting violence and murder in connection with clashes in front of presidential palace in the capital Cairo in December.

The trial, which will not be aired live on State TV, will be held at the Police Academy on the outskirts of Cairo at 08:00 GMT.

Morsi will face charges for the death of three out of 11 protesters who were killed in the violent clashes during demonstrations against his constitutional declaration, which gave him vast powers that many believed were steps towards authoritarianism.

''The other seven, who were members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, were excluded by the prosecutor from the case… this will also be brought up in the trial,'' Mohamed al-Damati, a member of the defence team, told Al Jazeera.

Morsi, who has been under arrest in an undisclosed location since the July 3 military coup, has rejected the trial and still considers himself to be the legitimate president of Egypt.

Al-Damati said that Morsi refrained from answering questions during the interrogations, considering them "invalid".

He added that the defence team, which has no access to the ousted president, received documents of the court case only on Saturday night, although a request had been filed more than 20 days ago.

Fourteen other defendants will be tried alongside Morsi on Monday, including Essam el-Erian, Vice President of the Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, and Mohamed el-Beltagi, a former member of parliament .

A coalition led by Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood has called for a mass protest, triggering the military-backed government to put in place huge security arrangement.

The Interior Ministry has said that about 20,000 security personnel will be deployed to secure the trial and other state institutions.

The ministry said in a statement that it would take all ''security measures to prevent possible attacks in accordance with the law".

Source: Al Jazeera