Egypt's Morsi trial postponed to Jan 8 next year

CAIRO - An Egyptian court decided on Monday to postpone the trial of Egypt's deposed President Mohamed Morsi to Jan 8, 2014 over the charges of murdering protesters during his one-year rule.

The trial, held at the Police Academy in eastern New Cairo neighborhood, was suspended for more than an hour as the Muslim Brotherhood defendants chanted slogans against the court and the military.

"I'm the president. The coup is a humiliation and a crime. I'm here by force against my will," Morsi told judges at the end of the trial, urging the court to "try the coup leader," A Xinhua correspondent attending the trial said.

Morsi repeated that he was the legal president of the country and the court has no jurisdiction to try him, the correspondent reported.

Morsi is accused along with the other 14 senior leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood of inciting violence and murder of protesters outside the presidential palace in December 2012. All the defendants were standing trial in cages.

It was Morsi's first public appearance since he was toppled by the Egyptian military on July 3 in response to massive nationwide protests against his rule.

He was in a dark blue suit when arriving in the courtroom and refused to change into the white detention clothes.

The former president was airlifted to the Police Academy Monday morning amid heavy security measures. All the roads leading to the courthouse were sealed off for fears of attacks and violence from Morsi's loyalists.

Authorities have deployed more than 20,000 security personnel to safeguard the trial, warning that they would fight any acts of violence.

However, thousands of supporters of Morsi launched marches outside the facility after the trial began. They were holding Morsi's pictures, chanting anti-military slogans and calling for the reinstatement of the country's first democratically-elected president.

Security sources were quoted by official news agency MENA as saying that Morsi was transferred to Borg el-Arab Prison in the country's northern coastal city of Alexandria.