The Cairo Criminal Court postponed on Monday the retrial of former President Mohamed Morsi and members of the Muslim Brotherhood group in the case of "Hamas espionage" to 17 May, local media reported. The defendants include senior brotherhood members Mohamed El-Beltagy, Essam El-Erian, and Mohamed Badie, who were accused of "plotting against the interest of Egypt" with Palestinian group Hamas and with Iranian and Lebanese militants. The court has reportedly postponed the trial because one of the defendants, Mohammed Badie, the supreme guide of the Brotherhood, was absent. In November 2016, the Cairo Court of Appeals had repealed a death sentence and a life imprisonment verdict to defendants in the case. Morsi came to power in 2012 after winning in the presidential elections. However, his ouster came on 30 June 2013 after mass protests in opposition to his ruling. The Muslim Brotherhood was labelled a terrorist organisation in 2013, following a court decision that banned the group. Thousands of its members are being trialled in front of the Egyptian judiciary. A government committee authorised to monitor the assets of Brotherhood members was formed in October 2013 by the Ministry of Justice, following a verdict by an Urgent Matters Court to ban the activities of the Brotherhood and to confiscate its capital. As such, the committee froze the assets of hundreds of the group's members, non-governmental organisations, and companies affiliated with the group.
