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Egypt's Morsi 'hasn't seen' family since November 2013

'I want the court to know that I haven't seen any members of my family', said Egypt's former president Morsi, from jail
Naglaa Ali Mahmud, wife of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi (AFP)

Ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said on Wednesday that he had not seen his family since November 2013, roughly four months after his removal from office and arrest by the army.

"I want the court to know that I haven't seen any members of my family since November of 2013," Morsi told the judge during a trial session in which he faces jailbreak charges.

"This violates all norms and laws," he said.

Morsi, along with 130 co-defendants, is accused of taking part in a mass jailbreak during Egypt's January 2011 uprising, which culminated in the ousting of autocratic President Hosni Mubarak.

Only 26 defendants, including Morsi, are in custody. The rest are being tried in absentia.

On Wednesday, the court adjourned trial proceedings to Saturday.

Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected leader, was ousted by the military in mid-2013 – after only one year in office – following opposition protests against his presidency.

He currently faces separate trials on multiple criminal charges, including espionage, jailbreak and "offending the judiciary."

Morsi, like all of his co-defendants, insists that the charges are politically motivated.

On Sunday, Morsi described his trial on charges of espionage as a "farce," which prompted the court judge to threaten filing a separate lawsuit against him for insulting the court.

"The trial's proceedings are a farce which the judiciary should not be part of," Morsi told the Cairo court from inside a sound-proofed glass cage.

"What happened on July 3 was a military coup and its leader is the one who should be behind bars," he said in reference to President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who led Morsi's overthrow before winning a presidential poll in May of last year.

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