Three Egyptian judges presiding over the criminal trial of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie and his two aides today stepped down, halting the proceedings.
The judges from the South Cairo Criminal Court cited a sense of uneasiness as their reason for quitting the trial, without giving further details.
Badie and his deputies, Khairat El- Shater and Rashad Bayoumi, are accused of inciting the killing of protesters at the Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo during clashes in June.
Nine protesters were killed and other 91 protesters were injured when fights broke out after anti-Brotherhood protesters stormed the building.
The South Cairo prosecution has referred six defendants to the criminal court for trial on the charges. The defendents include Mostafa Abdel-Azim, Mohamed Abdel-Azim and Atef Abdel-Galil.
Recusal is permissible by Egyptian law which does not obligate the judges to declare their reason. The same thing had happened with the panel trialling former president Hosni Mubarak.
Badie and El-Shater, along with former president Mohamed Morsi, are facing trials in a number of different cases.
Morsi is due to appear in court alongside 14 others on November 4 on charges of inciting murder and torture during deadly clashes between his supporters and opponents outside the Presidential Palace in December 2012.
The deposed president has refused to recognise the court, declining to delegate lawyers to defend him over murder allegations.
