Egypt's Morsi being held for own protection: Army

[DJKeefy]

Ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi is not being detained because there is no court order against him, army spokesperson Ahmed Ali told Al-Arabiya satellite channel on Tuesday.

The army has been protecting him amid widespread instability, Ali added.

Morsi has been held incommunicado at an unknown location since the military, led by army chief Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, deposed him on 3 July amid nationwide protests against his rule.

Ali accused some of the former president's supporters of inciting attacks against military facilities. "Armed protests close to any military or strategic unit or facility won't be tolerated," he said.

Ali also said that a campaign of rumours and false claims had been made in an attempt to distort the image of the Armed Forces and sow discord within the ranks.

"The Armed Forces carried out its national duty by responding to the peoples' demands [to remove Morsi]... the Armed Forces is constitutionally obliged to respond to those demands. This was a great revolution," he concluded.

In recent days, Egyptian prosecutors have ordered the arrest of many Muslim Brotherhood leaders on various charges, including inciting violence against anti-Brotherhood protesters and the army.

Last week, the army shot dead over 50 supporters of the former president at the Republican Guard headquarters who they accused of attacking the building.

The president's supporters have been protesting daily against what they describe as a "coup" against a legitimate, democratically-elected president. Meanwhile, backers of the military intervention say it is a continuation of the January 25 Revolution.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/76675.aspx

[LovelyLadyLux]

Wonder if Morsi will ever appear in court in the same style cage as Mubarak?

[Hafiz]

Some western press report that Morsi is being investigated for the crime of 'being escaped' on January 2 years ago resulting from an attack on his prison following which the guards fled. Seems he took advantage of the 'opening' and left. Whilst not technically an escapee, given the prison had ceased to be a prison, he can be tried for the offense of being escaped. Seems small beer compared with the killings of protestors over the past 2 1/2 years for which no-one has been convicted. Then again the people suspected or charged for these killings were police and army and maybe protected by the amnesty SCAF gave themselves whilst in governmen. They might soon need a fresh amnesty.

Justice can be swift to those (a very large number of accused) involved in the soccer killings but slow for others even where the swift justice involved the death penalty. Allegations of police complicity in the soccer killings did not lead to any charges but maybe its a slow investigation.

So after all this blood the only ones held to account are the soccer hooligans.

The Army will use preventative detention, the round up of the FJP leadership, the freezing of FJP assets, the issue of hundreds of warrants to intimidate, the closure of media, the use of the prosecutor and the direction of compliant courts to deal with political foes and to consolidate their power.

How long are they able to carry this on? Morsi released from detention would be real trouble for them and were the FJP to win the next election they would fear backlash. They might have to keep he and his mates under the covers for a long time or at least until the army can do a deal with the Salafis and 'reveal' government scandals.

Look for some creative gerrymandering and preferential voting in the new constitution and an FJP leadership held for their own protection