Egypt's Mohammed Morsi Goes On Trial

Egypt's first democratically-elected president has arrived at court to face charges that could carry the death penalty

Some 20,000 police officers have been deployed to maintain order as Mohamed Morsi goes on trial accused of inciting the deaths of protesters outside the presidential palace in December 2012.

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood supporters accuse the army-installed government of fabricating the charges and have called for anti-military protests, raising fears of new clashes.

On the eve of the trial, gunmen shot dead two policemen and injured a third near Ismailia on the west bank of the Suez Canal, security sources said.

Morsi, who has been held by the army at a secret location since he was ousted on July 3, was flown to the police academy in east Cairo where the trial is being held.

The 14 other defendants being tried alongside him were driven there during the curfew, Cairo security chief Osama al Soghayar said.

The trial is being seen as a test for Egypt's new authorities, who have come under fire from human rights groups for their heavy-handed approach in dealing with dissent.

Morsi supporters have been staging regular protests in Cairo

"They should present Mohamed Morsi in court and grant him a fair trial, including the right to challenge the evidence against him in court," Amnesty International's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said in a statement.

"Failing to do so would further call into question the motives behind his trial."

But analysts believe the political nature of the trial will drive its outcome.

Shadi Hamid from the Brookings Doha Center said: "This is first and foremost a political trial and an important one. There is zero chance of it being free and fair.

"The trial is a clear reminder of a polarised Egyptian society at this moment of time."

Egypt's foreign ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty told reporters over the weekend that Morsi will be "tried before a judge according to Egyptian penal code".

"Nothing extraordinary, nothing exceptional. He will have rights to have a free and fair trial," he said.

Morsi's stormy rule came to an abrupt end in a military overthrow after millions took to the streets to demand his resignation.

According to relatives and the few officials who were given access to him since his detention, Morsi remains defiant.

Unlike his predecessor Mubarak, on trial facing similar charges, he will not cooperate with the court, said the Islamist Anti-Coup Alliance.

The deposed president "does not recognise the authority of the court," it said in a statement.

His lawyers will attend the hearing only as observers, it added.

During a six-hour visit to Cairo on Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Egyptians to ensure a return to a democratically-elected government.

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