Egypt adjourns second mass Brotherhood trial

An Egyptian court has opened and adjourned a second mass trial of 683 alleged supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, including the Muslim Brotherhood's top leader, on charges of murder, incitement of violence and sabotage.

The proceedings in Minya, south of Cairo, on Tuesday, have been adjourned until April 28, when sentencing is expected to take place.

The court proceedings come a day after the same court handed down death sentences to 529 suspected Morsi backers over an attack on a police station that resulted in the death of one officer. The verdict, in which defense lawyers were not allowed to present their case, drew domestic and international criticism.

Rights groups in the United States and the European Union expressed concern and questioned the fairness of proceedings against so many defendants lasting just two days. Amnesty International, the United Kingdom-based rights group, said it was the biggest mass-sentencing in modern Egyptian history.

The charges in Tuesday's proceedings stemmed from rioting last August, sparked when security forces stormed two Brotherhood sit-ins in Cairo that killed over 600 people. The dispersal of the protest camps came weeks after the military overthrew Morsi following days of massive protests in which millions demanded he step down for abusing power.

Only 68 of the 683 defendants were in the dock on Tuesday. The rest were being tried in absentia. A handful of other defendants held in the case, including the Brotherhood's spiritual leader Mohammed Badie and other senior figures who are jailed in Cairo, were not present at the trial in Minya.

Meanwhile, defense teams for Monday's trial said they would demand that the judge step down after reaching a verdict based on only two hearings. The sentences were referred to Egypt's Grand Mufti for approval, but legal expert Gamal Eid said that they would likely be overturned on appeal.

He added that the case was "a catastrophe and a travesty and a scandal that will affect Egypt for many years."

Egypt's army-installed interim government defended the court's handling of the case, insisting that the sentences had been handed down only "after careful study" and were subject to appeal.

The Brotherhood said the death sentences were yet "another indication that the corrupt judiciary is being used by the coup commanders to suppress the Egyptian revolution and install a brutal regime".

At least 1,400 people have been killed in the crackdown on Morsi supporters and thousands more arrested, according to Amnesty International.

Morsi is himself on trial in three different cases. He was toppled by the army after a single year in power.

Wire services