An Egyptian court on Thursday decided to suspend the trial of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and other defendants charged with espionage until a defense lawyer's request for new judges can be considered.
The decision came after defense lawyer Mohamed Abu-Leila demanded new trial judges after presiding judges refused to remove soundproof glass cages in which the defendants were being held.
The Thursday hearing, which only lasted for five minutes, was attended by all 15 defendants in custody.
The remaining 15 defendants are being tried in absentia.
As they entered the glass cages, the defendants shouted slogans against "military rule" and raised the four-fingered Rabaa salute, which commemorates hundreds of pro-Morsi demonstrators killed during the dispersal last summer of two sit-ins in Cairo and Giza.
Trial defendant Ibrahim al-Darawi, a journalist, blindfolded and gagged himself to protest being placed in the cage.
Morsi and 35 others face accusations of conspiring with Palestinian resistance group Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah to carry out "terrorist acts" in Egypt.
Security forces have cordoned off the Police Academy in eastern Cairo where the trial is taking place and deployed personnel and armored vehicles in the area.
Supporters of army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, largely perceived as the architect of last July's ouster of Morsi, gathered outside the court venue to show support for the trial.
There were no Morsi supporters in the area.
The ousted president also faces two other separate trials for allegedly inciting violence against anti-government protesters in late 2012 and participating in a mass jailbreak during the 2011 uprising that toppled long-serving autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
In all previous court appearances, Morsi had insisted he still represented Egypt's legitimate president.
By Hazem Badr
englishnews@aa.com.tr
