The Cairo Appeals Court adjourned on Sunday the trial of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and 37 other defendants to 3 December, in the case known as "Rabaa operation room". The prosecution accused the defendants of setting up an "operation room" for the Rabaa Al-Adaweyya sit-in in 2013 and inciting protests that resulted in chaos. The defendants are also accused of establishing and financing an illegal group and spreading false news. The case originally included 51 defendants, 38 defendants of which, including Badie, appealed the verdicts issued against them in April 2015 that varied from life sentences to death penalties. The appeal of the defendants was approved in December 2015 and the retrial is ongoing.
Badie's defence team previously requested that the presiding judge in the case be replaced; however, the request was rejected.
Badie is being tried in several other cases, in which he is accused of inciting violence and attacking public institutions, and received death sentences in four cases.
Since the violent dispersal of the Rabaa Al-Adaweyya sit-in in 2013 following the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi, the state crackdown on Islamist movements has increased. The Muslim Brotherhood group was declared a terrorist group on 25 December 2013.
