CAIRO — Egypt's deposed president Mohamed Morsi will be tried on charges of "espionage" that aided acts of "terrorism", state media reported on Wednesday. Morsi, an Islamist who the military toppled in July after a single year of turbulent rule, is already on trial over alleged involvement in the killings of opposition protesters. Thirty-five other defendants, including former presidential aides and top leaders of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement, would stand trial with him, the official MENA news agency reported. Prosecutors accuse Morsi of "espionage for foreign organizations abroad to commit terrorist attacks in the country," the agency reported. The trial appears to stem from an investigation into prison breaks during a 2011 uprising against strongman Hosni Mubarak, when Morsi and other Islamist prisoners escaped. Prosecutors have alleged the jailbreaks were carried out by Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups, who had members imprisoned under Mubarak.
There have been massive demonstrations across Egypt in support of Morsi since his overthrow. Swiss freezes Egypt, Tunisia assets for three more years Meanwhile, the Swiss government said Wednesday it has decided to keep 760 million Swiss francs ($858 million) in Egyptian and Tunisian assets frozen for three more years. Switzerland's seven-member Federal Council, which includes the president and other ministers, said the decision applies to the 700 million francs held by former president Hosni Mubarak and his aides and another 60 million francs that were linked to Tunisia's former autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali. The Council said in a statement that the “aim of this extension is to provide more time for criminal investigations in Tunisia and Egypt into the origin of these assets.” And by granting the extension, the Council said, the Swiss government “is thereby taking account of the political transition in the two countries.” It added that over the past three years there has been close cooperation between Swiss authorities and their counterparts in Tunisia and Egypt that has resulted in “significant progress” toward determining the origin of the assets so that the money can be returned eventually. Under Swiss laws, other nations are generally required to provide information about possible criminal wrongdoing to start unblocking any frozen assets. The money in such cases is usually locked up for three years, and during that time governments must meet Swiss requirements such as providing information of any financial crimes that could be prosecuted on Swiss soil. — AP
