EGYPT'S deposed president Mohammed Morsi was put in a soundproof glass cage during an appearance in a Cairo court today.
The cage, previously unheard of in Egyptian courts, shows the "extraordinary measures that the new government is using to silence" the former president, the New York Times says. During Morsi's first court appearance in November he disrupted proceedings by refusing to wear a white prison jumpsuit and repeatedly declaring he was still Egypt's legitimate leader.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Morsi's supporters insist the prisoners left the jail because the guards had abandoned their posts. They also "question why the charges were not brought before Morsi became president given that the circumstances of his escape from prison were already well known", The Guardian says.
Egyptian state television had planned to cover Morsi's appearance at the court, which has been convened at a heavily-guarded police academy in eastern Cairo. But the live broadcast was cancelled shortly before the start of proceedings, the NYT says.
Instead, Egyptian viewers were shown "short clips" of Morsi – wearing a white jumpsuit this time – in the glass cage. The brief coverage also showed a second cage holding a further 20 defendants.
No other news organisation was allowed to report from the courtroom, the NYT says.
A microphone in the cage was switched on briefly to allow Morsi to "acknowledge his presence" in the court. Seizing his opportunity, the former president shouted: "I have been absent from the world since the fourth of January and haven't met anybody from my family or my defence. I'm the legitimate president of Egypt."
The microphone was quickly switched off, the NYT says.
-
How the FCC’s ‘equal time’ rule worksIn the Spotlight The law is at the heart of the Colbert-CBS conflict
-
What is the endgame in the DHS shutdown?Today’s Big Question Democrats want to rein in ICE’s immigration crackdown
-
‘Poor time management isn’t just an inconvenience’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Epstein files topple law CEO, roil UK governmentSpeed Read Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, is caught up in the scandal
-
Iran and US prepare to meet after skirmishesSpeed Read The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
