Court postpones retrial of Morsi in Qatar espionage case

CAIRO – 20 May 2017: The Cassation Court postponed the retrial of former President Mohamed Morsi and six others to June 3, on charges of leaking classified documents to Qatar, publicly known as “Qatar espionage case.”

The court listened to Morsi’s defense lawyer who claimed the trial was a case of public opinion and objected to the court formation, saying that it was “in an exceptional manner after the events of June 30.” He called for postponing the trial to look into the prosecution’s report that demanded the rejection of the appeal.

The defense team, representing Morsi and other Brotherhood members, appealed in August 2016 against the prison and death sentences issued in the “espionage case.”

After 99 trial sessions, Morsi was sentenced to 15 years in jail in the case of “Qatar espionage” in June 2016. Six other defendants received death sentences, following the approval of the Grand Mufti who stated the “crimes of the defendants were similar to that of treason.”

In September 2014, Egypt’s prosecutor general had referred the defendants to the criminal court for illegally acquiring intelligence and confidential reports of Armed Forces plans and operations, intending to deliver them to Qatar.