The trial against former president Mohamed Morsi and 10 other defendants, in which they are accused of espionage with Qatar, will hold its first session on 15 February, the Cairo Court of Appeals decided on Monday.
Morsi along with another 35 defendants, all of them senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders, already stand accused of organising a “plot” with the aid of groups including Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Lebanese Shi’a group Hezbollah.
They also face charges of disclosing national security secrets, funding terrorism, and coordination with jihadist organisations inside and outside Egypt to execute terrorist operations in the country.
The charges in the new case against Morsi, his aids, and other defendants include peculation of reports issued by general and military intelligence, army, homeland division of the Ministry of Interior and administrative supervisory authority, with the intention of delivering them to the Qatari intelligence agency and Qatari news network Al Jazeera.