Egypt Adjourns Second Mass Brotherhood Trial
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - An Egyptian court opened and adjourned a second mass trial of 683 alleged supporters of deposed president Mohamed Mursi, including the Muslim Brotherhood's top leader, on charges of murder, incitement of violence and sabotage.
The proceedings in Minya, south of Cairo, on Tuesday, which have been adjourned until April 28, came a day after the same court handed down death sentences to 529 suspected backers of Mursi over a deadly attack on a police station.
A lawyer at the trial said sentencing would take place at the April 28 hearing, AFP reported.
Police also fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators gathered at Alexandria University to protest against the mass trials, a Reuters witness said.
Monday's verdict, in which defence lawyers were not allowed to present their case, drew wide public and international criticism.
Rights groups, the United States and the European Union expressed concern and questioned the fairness of proceedings against so many defendants lasting just two days.
Amnesty International, the UK-based rights group, said it was the biggest mass sentence given in modern Egyptian history.
The charges in Tuesday's proceedings also stemmed from rioting last August sparked by the security forces' storming of two Brotherhood sit-ins in Cairo that killed over 600 people.
