CAIRO
By Walid Fouda
A judge in Egypt, who acquitted ousted president Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister of corruption charges, will preside over the trial of deposed president Mohamed Morsi, due to begin Monday.
In April, Judge Ahmed Sabri cleared Ahmed Shafiq, runner-up in last year's presidential polls and last Mubarak-era prime minister, of charges that he had embezzled public money while serving as civil aviation minister before the 2011 revolution that toppled Mubarak.
Two days later, the same judge sentenced a bodyguard employed by Khairat al-Shater, deputy supreme guide of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, to one year in jail for possessing an unlicensed weapon.
The latter case made headlines because the bodyguard, Khalil al-Aqeed, had also been accused of having links with the Gaza-based resistance faction Hamas.
The court panel that will oversee Morsi's trial will also include Hussein Qandeel and Ahmed Abul-Fotouh.
Judicial sources, meanwhile, said that security agencies had stepped up security for the three judges due to fears of reprisal.
Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected head of state, is due to appear in court on Monday where he will face charges of inciting the murder of protesters outside Cairo's Ittihadiya presidential palace late last year.
Morsi was ousted by Egypt's powerful military establishment following massive demonstrations against his presidency.
Morsi's supporters insist that the charges against him -- like those leveled against other Islamist leaders -- are politically motivated.
If Morsi is brought to trial, it will be the first time for the ousted president to be seen in public since his removal.
The Interior Ministry has yet to announce the trial venue but some security sources have said it would likely be held at a police academy near Tora Prison in southern Cairo.
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