On 4 November last year the media was busy reporting a meeting between then president Mohamed Morsi and three former presidential candidates — Amr Moussa, Hamdeen Sabahi and Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh — called in an attempt to reach agreement over the 2012 constitution. A year later that constitution is suspended and the media is full of news of the dismissed president's impending trial, scheduled to begin on 4 November 2013. Morsi faces a long list of charges ranging from incitement to murder demonstrators in front of Al-Ittihadiya palace to espionage and collusion with foreign parties to break out of prison during the 25 January 2011 Revolution. He is not the only one in the dock. Appearing with him before the Criminal Court are Essam Al-Erian, vice president of the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP); Asaad Al-Sheikha, former vice chairman of the presidency office; Ahmed Abdel-Atti, former director of the president's office and Ayman Hodhod, a former presidential adviser. The list of defendants also includes Alaa Hamza, Abdel-Rahman Ezz, Ahmed Al-Moghir, Gamal Saber, Mohamed Al-Beltagui, Wagdi Ghoneim and four others. Morsi's constitutional declaration, issued in late November 2012, sparked massive demonstrations and sit-ins, in Tahrir and in front of Al-Ittihadiya palace. The former president — according to press reports on the investigations — instructed the commander of the Republican Guard and the former minister of interior to disperse the demonstrations. Although he repeated these instructions several times the two officials refused to carry them out in order to safeguard the lives of peaceful demonstrators. In the face of this refusal Al-Sheikha, Abdel-Atti and Hodhod are alleged to have then called in Muslim Brotherhood supporters to perform the task. A large gang then violently attacked the sit-in at the presidential palace. Investigations also implicate Al-Erian, Al-Beltagui and Ghoneim in inciting violence in order to break up the sit-in. According to press reports, the prosecution has compiled evidence that these defendants and their supporters assaulted peaceful demonstrators and tore down and burned their tents. The assailants are said to have been in possession of guns which they fired at demonstrators. Journalist Al-Husseini Abu Deif, who was present at the scene, died from a bullet wound to his head. The prosecutor-general charges that Morsi incited his supporters and aides to commit murder with malice and aforethought; to use violence and forceful coercion; to obtain and use for this purpose bladed weapons, firearms and ammunition; and to detain peaceful demonstrators and to subject them to torture. As the trial approaches the government is planning security measures more stringent than those that surrounded the trial of former president Hosni Mubarak. The Ministry of Interior has announced that it will work with the army to secure the courtroom. An assembly hall in the Police Officers Institute at Tora Al-Balad has been equipped for the trial. There will be heavy security not only around the premises but in the areas where the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters might attempt to stage demonstrations on the day of the trial. Muslim Brotherhood supporters and the National Coalition for Legitimacy are stepping up preparations, at home and abroad, for the opening day of the trial. Demonstrations are planned ahead of Morsi's appearance in court but according to one Muslim Brotherhood leader members of the group have not yet reached a final decision on the nature or location of any rallies or other activities. He added that demonstrations of some sort during the trial are essential and that there will be no backing down on the group's resolve to stage them. The Muslim Brothers are expected to attempt to stage mass demonstrations in several squares during the week of the trial. Former Muslim Brotherhood members suggest the group will put all its weight behind amassing huge numbers in an attempt to block Morsi from reaching the courtroom. According to these sources Muslim Brotherhood members from around the country will converge on the capital and gather in a sit-in the day before the trial is scheduled to open. Amr Amara, a breakaway Muslim Brotherhood youth, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the group will probably attempt to divert security forces. They might, he says, announce a mass demonstration several days before the trial, or issue calls for the storming of electricity, water and metro stations. They will attempt to stage demonstrations in several different locations, possibly including Rabaa Al-Adaweya, Nahda, Sphinx and Roxy squares. Amara suggests they will also call for action by students on university campuses in an attempt to defuse the security presence around the court. Former Muslim Brotherhood leader Kamal Al-Helbawi says the group's most likely strategy will be to try and force security agencies “to postpone the trial for fear of large pro-Morsi demonstrations in front of premises of the courtroom and in vital squares and streets”. Demonstrations, he says, are being planned to take place in front of government buildings and metro stations across Greater Cairo. Brotherhood supporters are also threatening to bring traffic to a halt near Tahrir, Rabaa Al-Adaweya, Nahda and Roxy squares. Muslim Brotherhood members will attempt to lure security forces into such locations in order to distract attention as Muslim Brothers coming from outside the capital converge in the area of the trial and try to prevent authorities from entering the courtroom. “Leaders from the group have spoken with Muslim Brotherhood families living in governorates close to Cairo in an attempt to persuade them to take part in the activities,” says Al-Helbawi. He predicts the largest and best organised demonstrations since what Muslim Brotherhood rhetoric refers to as the “coup against the legitimacy of the president”. There have been reports of requests by Muslim Brotherhood figures to postpone the trial as long as mediation efforts between the government and the group are in progress. Coalition for Legitimacy leaders say they will relinquish their demand for Morsi's reinstatement in exchange for a halt to his prosecution, a referendum on the post-30 June roadmap, a guarantee that other Brotherhood leaders will not face prosecution, and permission for Morsi to officially delegate his powers to a new national consensus government. The judiciary and senior state officials are said to have rejected these demands on the grounds that now the prosecutor-general has referred Morsi to prosecution before the Criminal Court any such action would constitute an intervention in judicial affairs. A Muslim Brotherhood source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, denied the reports. “How can they be true when our only resort is to peaceful demonstration? Who in the government will listen to us today?” he asked. He claimed the “coup wagers” were using Morsi's trial to “break the popular will and divide the defenders of legitimacy with claims that Morsi engaged in espionage for foreign powers and was responsible for the events at Al-Ittihadiya”. Thirty movements have been formed in the wake of the 30 June Revolution to fight the “coup”. They include Journalists against the Coup, Students against the Coup, Christians against the Coup, Where's the Kidnapped President? and the Invalid campaign whose slogan is “Not in defence of Morsi, but in defence of my vote and legitimacy”. These movements are coordinating over conferences intended to express solidarity with the dismissed president and in organising nationwide demonstrations. The organisers have not disclosed the locations where conferences are to be held for fear of a security clampdown. Despite such groupings there appears to be an element of confusion among the pro-Morsi camp. It has been rumoured that Morsi believes he should defend himself even though he does not recognise the validity of the trial and his team of lawyers will only observe the prosecution process. Some Arab lawyers are said to have joined Morsi's defence team as volunteers. According to Muslim Brotherhood lawyer Mohamed Al-Damati, Morsi has refused to respond to any questions regarding the charges of incitement to murder and violence. His sole response has been to reiterate that he has immunity in his capacity as the “legitimate president of the country”. Al-Damati added that Morsi's lawyers have been absent from all interrogations. Some politicians see the trial as a major setback, if not total defeat, for attempts to reach a reconciliation with the Muslim Brotherhood and end the crisis surrounding the organisation. Others believe that there is still hope. The Muslim Brotherhood, itself, seems to be in the defeatist camp: according to one of the group's leaders persistent efforts on their part to persuade the government to budge on its position have failed. The government insists the Muslim Brotherhood must recognise the legitimacy of the 30 June Revolution while the Muslim Brothers insist on drawing a line between the events of 30 June, which were an expression of popular will, and the events of 3 July, which they call a coup. Muslim Brothers will try to take advantage of the trial to revive their cause at home and abroad. At home the plan is for mass demonstrations and to use Morsi's appearance at the trial as a means to fire the ardour of group members. Abroad, there will be demonstrations by pro-Morsi supporters and sympathisers in front of Egyptian embassies. Muslim Brotherhood members abroad will also seek to stir criticism in the Western press on the integrity of the trial in order to promote negative coverage of the current authorities in Egypt. The Morsi trial could add to the assets of the pro-Morsi camp. Demonstrations may achieve their purpose of sapping the energies of Egyptian security forces and international television cameras will be focussed on these gatherings. Although there has been some conjecture that the trial may be postponed the government looks determined to proceed with it. In transferring the ousted president from his place of detention to the premises of the trial (towards which end a helicopter will be used) the government hopes to affirm its strength in spite of the intimidation of any pro-Morsi crowds.
