Egyptian court to deliver verdict in Morsi trial

An Egyptian court is expected on Saturday to deliver a verdict in a trial of the deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, charged with orchestrating a prison escape and conspiring with foreign organizations.

Morsi and 130 others are accused of abducting police officers and storming prisons during the 2011 uprising against former president Hosny Mubarak.

The co-defendants include senior leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood from which Morsi hails, and members of the Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah Islamist movements.

The defendants could be given the death penalty if convicted.

Morsi was arrested soon after the start of anti-Mubarak protests in late January 2011. 

A few days later, he escaped from the Wadi al-Natrun prison complex, located on a desert highway 160 kilometres north-west of the Egyptian capital.

A large number of prisoners, including political detainees, escaped from jails across Egypt during the chaos that followed the collapse of Mubarak's police system in the 18 days of protests that eventually forced him to step down.

Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was toppled by the military in 2013 after mass protests against his one-year rule.

Last month, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of inciting violence against protesters when he was in power.

He is being tried in a third case related to the alleged leaking of national security documents to Qatar, a staunch ally of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Morsi also faces a separate trial on charges of defaming the judiciary.

The Islamist leader has refused to recognize the authority of the courts, insisting he is the rightful president of Egypt.

Since his overthrow, thousands of Morsi's followers have been detained, with many given heavy sentences.

Egyptian authorities have also designated the Muslim Brotherhood to be a terrorist organization as part of a crackdown on the group.