CAIRO
The Egyptian authorities have barred lawyers from attending an interrogation session with ousted president Mohamed Morsi regarding charges that he illegally broke out of jail during Egypt's January 2011 uprising.
A legal team arrived on Tuesday at Alexandria's Burg al-Arab Prison, where Morsi is being held, to observe the interrogation before officials told them that they would not be allowed to attend, a source with the team told Anadolu Agency.
Morsi was questioned in regard to accusations that he broke out of Wadi al-Natrun Prison – and had helped others escape – during the 2011 uprising that toppled autocratic president Hosni Mubarak.
"Preventing the legal team from attending the interrogation session [with Morsi] is against the law, which obliges the prosecution to allow lawyers to attend the interrogation sessions with suspects," the source said.
Morsi faces additional charges of "conspiring" with Gaza-based Palestinian resistance faction Hamas to carry out "hostile acts" inside Egypt, including an attack on Wadi al-Natrun Prison.
Morsi's eldest son, Osama, who attended the last interrogation session in his capacity as lawyer, told Anadolu Agency earlier that his father had refused to answer any of his interrogators' questions and had reiterated his rejection of the interrogation's legality.
In November, Morsi was flown to a maximum-security detention facility after appearing in court with seven other defendants to answer charges that they had incited the murder of anti-government protesters last year.
The November 4 court session was Morsi's first public appearance since his ouster by the military more than five months ago.
Morsi's supporters insist that the charges against the ousted president – like those leveled against other Muslim Brotherhood leaders and Islamist figures – are politically motivated.
Morsi, for his part, says he still represents Egypt's legitimate president and refuses to recognize the legality of his trial, for which he has declined to take on any formal legal representation.
By Islam Tawfik
englishnews@aa.com.tr
