Trial adjourned ON MONDAY the Cairo Criminal Court adjourned the trial of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, along with 130 Muslim Brotherhood figures, until 23 August. The defendants are accused of breaking out of Egyptian prisons during the 25 January revolution that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011. The court heard the witnesses' testimonies during Monday's session. Morsi has been accused of a number of charges, including alleged espionage and conspiracy, insulting the judiciary and inciting violence against anti-government protests. Ultras members arrested SEVEN members of the Ultras White Knights group were arrested in the wake of the attempt to assassinate Zamalek Sporting Club Chairman Mortada Mansour. On Tuesday, the group members accused the police of raiding their houses and arresting their parents in order to force them to turn themselves in. Interior Ministry spokesman Hany Abdel-Latif denied that the group members' parents had been arrested. A source within the group said those in custody are charged with “attempted murder”, along with other offences. He said they are being “mistreated” and “humiliated.” They were presented to the prosecution on Tuesday but their lawyers were not permitted to be present, the group says. The assassination attempt on Mansour took place at dawn on Sunday. While Mansour was leaving the club, he was urged to duck because of “gun shots”. Two of the people accompanying him were shot, one in the back of the head; the other sustained several bullet wounds. Mansour claimed he could identify the perpetrators and named them. Immediately after the incident, Mansour went to the police station. Disputes have been common between the Ultras White Knights and Mansour. A member within the group said Mansour is “fighting the group” and that group members are currently banned from entering the club. On Saturday, the group released a video of a song about Mansour, describing him as serving the regime. Cartouche returned ON FRIDAY the Egyptian Embassy in Berlin received parts of King Khufu's cartouche, stolen by two German archaeologists from a room found inside the Great Pyramid. The objects are due to arrive in Egypt within a week, and will be examined and restored, if necessary, before being returned to their original positions inside the pyramid in Giza. Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh El-Damati said that the return of the artefacts comes after a year of legal and political efforts by the Antiquities Ministry. In November 2013 a documentary entitled “The Cheops Project” was uploaded on YouTube. The video showed researcher Dominique Goerlitz and author Stefan Erdmann during their secret trip inside Khufu's Pyramid and the difficulty they faced in reaching the cartouche. Samples of the cartouche was taken during the expedition and was subject to laboratory analysis in Germany. It was following the release of the documentary that the Antiquities Ministry learned about the illegal expedition inside the pyramid and decided to sue the two German archaeologists for stealing the items and smuggling them out of the country. The ministry's permanent committee has prohibited any archaeological cooperation with Dresden University, which supported the work of the two German archaeologists, as well as with the scientific laboratory where the stolen and smuggled samples were analysed. The case against the two Germans was referred to the Egyptian prosecutor-general for further investigation, where it was alleged that the archaeologists broke Egyptian law by entering the pyramid and taking the samples without the ministry's permission. They also smuggled the samples out of the country, in breach of international law and the UNESCO convention. A request that the Egyptian police and Interpol put the names of both German archaeologists on the airports watchlist has also been submitted. El-Damati said that steps are being taken in cooperation with the German authorities to penalise the criminals and file an lawsuit against them, according to the international law which criminalises interference with a monument on the World Heritage List.
