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Morsi to hire lawyers, will not recognise court Mohamed Morsi's defence team does not recognise post-3 July procedures, says Muslim Brotherhood lawyer Mohamed El-Damati
Muslim Brotherhood lawyer Mohamed El-Damati said Saturday that ousted president Mohamed Morsi will be hiring lawyers although he does not recognise the court which is trying him. The move is to prevent the court from appointing a defence attorney to represent him, El-Damati said. El-Damati added during an interview with Al-Arabia channel that so far Morsi's defence team, of which he is a member, has not seen the papers containing the charges against the former president. He said that the lawyer that attends Morsi's trial is not a member of the defence team. El-Damati said that he is currently only involved in the “Ittihadiya case," in which Morsi faces accusations of inciting violence against his opponents during the presidential palace clashes in 2012, adding that he has not yet gained access to the files of the other cases facing the former president. In addition to charges of inciting violence, Morsi is also standing trial over allegations of espionage where he is accused of collaborating with Hamas, Hizbullah and other organisations to commit terrorist acts in Egypt. El-Damati further insisted that the defence team still sees Morsi as the president and only recognises the 2012 Constitution. “The legitimacy of the coming constitution will only be recognised by the putschists, but we consider all procedures taken after 3 July as null and void,” he said. Morsi was ousted 3 July amid mass protests against his rule. A new political roadmap was then announced, including amending the 2012 Constitution and holding fresh parliamentary and presidential elections. El-Damati further explained that the defence team will not seek the intervention of international courts unless they feel the Egyptian judiciary denies the president his full rights. “I trust the Egyptian judiciary, but that does not mean that there aren't judges that are biased against the January 25 Revolution,” he said. Morsi was referred Saturday to criminal court on new charges of escaping from Wadi El-Natroun Prison during the January uprising of 2011. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/89670.aspx