Cairo Criminal Court resumed Sunday the trial of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, with 35 members and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, in the case publicly known as the "espionage case". The defendants are accused of collaborating with Hamas to commit acts of terrorism in Egypt, of revealing defense secrets to a foreign country, funding and supporting terrorism, and communicating with Jihadists inside and outside Egypt in order to plan, arrange and commit terrorist attacks in the country. Prosecutors have also referred Morsi and nine others for trial on new charges of spying for Qatar. The accusations include leaking important national security documents to Qatari intelligence through the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news channel. Qatar was a strong supporter of Egypt during Morsi's rule and has been repeatedly accused by the current government – and several Gulf countries – of funding and supporting the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Morsi, who was ousted July 2013 amid mass protests against his rule, faces a number of other charges in separate cases, including incitement to murder and breaking out of prison in 2011.
