A Cairo appeal court on Monday extended the detention of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi for a further 30 days on charges of escaping from jail and espionage during the 2011 uprising. Morsi, who faces a separate trial for inciting violence, is accused of collaborating with Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to orchestrate his escape from Wadi Al-Natroun prison during the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, destroying police records and killing security personnel. The judge also extended the detention of three other Brotherhood leaders, Sobhi Saleh, Hamdy Hassan and Saad El-Husseini, by 15 days in the same case. Some 11,000 detainees escaped from the prison, northwest of the capital, and thirteen people died during the breakout on 28 January 2011, the fiercest day of the 18-day popular revolt. Morsi had been held incommunicado by the army since his ouster on 3 July, but he was sent to a heavily guarded prison near the Mediterranean city of Alexandria on 4 November, when the first hearing of his trial for incitement to murder took place. His trial was adjourned to 8 January. Source : Ahram
