Facing a trial which may lead to his execution, Mohammad Morsi affirmed that he was still President of Egypt. It was his first appearance before a public forum since his ouster. An Islamist, he was overthrown by the army in July following mass protests against him. Morsi was the first elected President of Egypt. Like his predecessor Hosni Mubarak, he faced his trial confined in a cage. The deposed leader challenged the authority of the court and questioned the legitimacy of his judge. He asked the Egyptian judiciary not to cover for a military coup. Opponents of Egypt’s army-backed government condemned the legal proceedings as a “show trial”. It was, according to them, an attempt to liquidate the Muslim Brotherhood of which Morsi is the leader and revive the police state of Hosni Mubarak that ended in 2011 after 30 years of tyranny. On the other hand, hundreds of people had been killed following Morsi’s overthrow. Many of them were shot dead by the police and the army. Thousands of Morsi’s followers have been put behind bars. It would appear that the difference between Hosni Mubarak’s oppressive regime and the present government is like between tweedledum and tweedledee. Morsi himself is in prison near Alexandria. Whatever may be the verdict against Morsi, one thing is clear. The Muslim Brotherhood is a formidable force that derives strength from youth power which has recently asserted itself at such famous academic institutions as al-Azhar University in Cairo. Public opinion has also polarized.
Above all, the western powers have not sided with the anti-Morsi faction. The military coup led Washington to cut some military aid. If the term “coup” was actually used, the US would have been constrained to halt aid to one of its major clients. A few days ago, US secretary of state John Kerry expressed guarded optimism about the restoration of democracy in Egypt. It was not clear, however, whether he wanted Morsi to be back in the saddle. The Arab Spring at Tahrir Square has no doubt led to a winter of discontent all over Egypt.