Supporters of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi have refused to recognise his upcoming trial, asserting that it is "farcical" and "null." Morsi, who was ousted on 3 July after massive protests against his rule, is due to appear in court on Monday alongside 14 other senior Islamists and Muslim Brotherhood figures on charges of inciting violence. If found guilty, Morsi and his co-defendants could face lifetime imprisonment or the death penalty. The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, a pro-Morsi coalition backed by his Muslim Brotherhood, described the trial as a "farce" and "absurd," decrying what they called a "null, illegal" measure against the country's first freely elected president. "The farcical, absurd trial the coup organisers are holding next Monday is nothing but a naive attempt to break our will and drain that of the resistant president," the Alliance announced in a Sunday statement on Facebook. Morsi supporters accuse the army of staging a 'coup' against the elected president and reversing the democratic gains of the 2011 uprising that toppled long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak. However, the military says it was merely responding to the people's 'will' after millions took to the street to protest Morsi's one-year divisive rule. "What is happening now is a flagrant breach of all standards, laws and norms," the statement read. It also lambasted the "disgraceful performance of the judiciary, which has become a tool at the hands of the military...used in a political conflict to crush rights and laws." Tensions are running high across Egypt on the eve of Morsi's trial, which is expected to heighten conflict between the Muslim Brotherhood and the interim authorities that have cracked down on Islamists since Morsi's ouster. Hundreds of Islamists have been rounded up, and most of the Muslim Brotherhood's senior leaders are now behind bars. The Islamist alliance has warned the interim authorities against broadcasting Morsi's trial on TV, saying "they [the interim authorities] know what the resistant president Morsi would do to them." The coalition has reiterated calls for a mass demonstration outside Cairo's Tora police institute where the trial will be held, ignoring warnings by Egypt's interior ministry to firmly confront any "assaults on people or property in accordance with all legal measures regulating the use of firearms." Source: Ahram Online
