Egypt's Morsi faces new accusation of insulting judges

CAIRO - Agence France-Presse

Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and suporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi march through Cairo's Maadi Neighborhood on Sept. 6. ;AFP photo

An Egyptian prosecutor levelled new accusations against Mohamed Morsi, already facing trial on other charges, alleging the toppled president had insulted the country's judiciary when he was in office, state media reported Sept. 7.

The prosecutor issued a new detention order for Morsi over his comments that judges had rigged a 2005 parliamentary election.

Morsi, who is already being held by the military at an unknown location, refused to cooperate with prosecutors, the official MENA news agency reported.

"The investigative prosecutors accused Mohamed Morsi of insulting the judiciary by accusing 22 judges of forging parliamentary elections in 2005," the agency reported, without providing details.

In 2005, the Brotherhood was a banned organisation but allowed to run candidates as independents for parliament under then president Hosni Mubarak, who stepped down in 2011 after a popular uprising.

The Brotherhood won a fifth of seats in parliament then, but observers and even one judge who oversaw the vote said the election was partly rigged.

Last week, prosecutors referred Morsi to trial for allegedly inciting the murder of protesters outside his palace in December 2012.

The military overthrew Morsi on July 3 following massive protests demanding his resignation after only a year in office.

The popularly backed coup ushered in a fierce crackdown against his Muslim Brotherhood movement in which more than 1,000 people have died.