Egypt’s Morsi to be tried on charges of inciting violence

Associated Press

Egypt’s top prosecutor on Sunday referred ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to trial on charges of inciting the killing of opponents protesting outside his palace while he was in office, the state news agency said.

Morsi will be tried, along with 14 members of his Muslim Brotherhood, in a criminal court for allegedly committing acts of violence, and inciting the killing of at least 10 people.

Also on Sunday, security officials and residents said Egypt’s military bulldozed 13 homes along the Gaza Strip border over the last 10 days and caved in tunnels beneath them as a prelude to the possible creation of a buffer zone to reduce weapon smuggling and illegal militant crossings.

Morsi’s case dates back to one of the deadliest bouts of violence during his one year in office. At least 100,000 protesters gathered outside his presidential palace on Dec. 4, protesting a decree he issued to protect his decisions from judicial oversight and a highly disputed draft constitution that was hurriedly adopted in the Islamist-dominated parliament.

Protesters demanded he call off a referendum scheduled days later. The next day, Islamist groups and supporters of Morsi attacked protesters who camped out there, sparking deadly street battles that left at least 10 dead and sending chills among Morsi’ opponents that he had relied on organized mobs to defend his palace.

The state news agency said an investigation by prosecutors revealed that Morsi had asked the Republican Guard and the minister in charge of police to break up the sit-in, but they feared a bloody confrontation and declined. The agency said Morsi’ aides then summoned their supporters to forcefully break up the sit-in.

Officials from the Brotherhood and its political party deny using violence to quell critics and said supporters were defending the palace. They accused opponents of starting the battles and forcing away police that had been guarding the area.

The military ousted Morsi on July 3. He’s been held incommunicado since. Despite other accusations by prosecutors, Sunday’s decision is his first referral to trial. No date was announced for the trial.

Meanwhile, residents along the Gaza Strip border said they were evicted with no compensation when their homes were bulldozed by Egypt’s military.

The military envisions creating a building-free zone with no trees 1,640 feet wide and 6 miles long starting at the Rafah border crossing and ending at the Mediterranean Sea, Northern Sinai government officials said. The homes were knocked down over the last 10 days as a test of the buffer zone idea in an area called el-Sarsoriya, a few miles from the Rafah crossing, while explosives were used to collapse the tunnels.

The move comes as Egypt’s interim government and military attempt to assert more stringent state control over the largely lawless northern Sinai Peninsula, where Islamic militants have turned large areas into strongholds from which they have waged repeated attacks on security forces, Christians and tribal leaders — compounding the country’s security woes following the ouster of Morsi. Homes and trees along the Gaza border have been used as cover for militants to fire at border guards.

The Egyptian military has closed much of the once-bustling tunnel system, but some remain along the 9-mile stretch of border. Residents angered by the past days’ bulldozing staged a sit-in protest in Rafah on Sunday.

Samir Faris, who lives in Rafah, said many more people fear losing their homes if the buffer zone is expanded beyond the small area leveled so far. Most homes along the border are two to three stories high and house more than one family, he said.

“Officers come to houses, tell people they must leave now because they want to expand borders,” he said. “We have no objections, but first give us a clear plan.”