Deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and 35 other top Islamists will be tried for espionage and collaborating with foreign militant outfits like Hamas and Hezbollah to commit "terrorist acts" in the country, state media said today.
Morsi, 62, toppled by the military in July, is already on trial and in jail for alleged involvement in the killings of opposition protesters.
The deposed leader will stand trial with 35 co-defendants, including the top three leaders of his Muslim Brotherhood and former presidential advisers.
Morsi and 35 co-defendants have been accused of "collaborating with foreign organisations to commit terrorist acts in Egypt, revealing defence secrets to foreign countries, funding terrorists and military training to achieve the purposes of the international organisation of the Brotherhood," a statement by the prosecutor-general's office was quoted as saying by Ahram Online.
Brotherhood leaders collaborated with Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah and other organisations "inside and outside" Egypt to smuggle arms, organised military training for group members in the Gaza Strip, and funded a plan to stir chaos and threaten national security in Egypt, the statement said.
Prosecutors also accuse the group of sponsoring terrorist attacks on army and police targets in the Sinai Peninsula, which borders Israel, following Morsi's ouster.
Nineteen defendants are already being detained and prosecutors have ordered the arrest of the seventeen others, the statement said.
Among Morsi's co-defendants are Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie, his two deputies Khairat El-Shater and Mahmoud Ezzat, and prominent members Saad El-Katatni, Essam El-Erian and Mahmoud El-Beltagy. Former presidential aide Refaa El-Tahtawy along with his two deputies are also on trial.
In the statement, the prosecutor said that Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood had committed acts of violence and terrorism in Egypt and prepared a "terrorist plan" that included an alliance with Hamas and Hezbollah.
The accusations seem to be in connection with Morsi's escape from prison during the 2011 uprising against ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak. That attack on prison killed 14 inmates.
Last month, Morsi went on trial on charges of incitement in connection with clashes between his supporters and opposition protesters outside the presidential palace here in December 2012.
Proceedings have been adjourned until January 8, but Morsi will also go on trial on December 23 on separate fraud charges connected with the Brotherhood's economic and social programme for Egypt's recovery, called Renaissance (al-Nahda).
