The trial of the second Egyptian president to be prosecuted within two years appears to be another test of the Egyptian justice system, which seeks to demonstrate that it is independent and unbiased. Mohammed Morsi’s indictment states he and another 14 activists from the Muslim Brotherhood were “involved in incitement to violence and violent activity” during the conflicts between Morsi’s supporters and opponents near the Al-Ittihadiya presidential palace on December 5, 2012.

But the tragic “events of Al-Ittihadiya,” as the public calls them — in which at least eight people were killed and more than 500 wounded — constituted a political breaking point not only among Morsi’s opponents, who demanded that he retract the presidential decisions that put him above the law, but also among members of the Muslim Brotherhood themselves. Many of its young activists left the group after the events, and some announced the formation of an independent group. Several high-ranking activists left the group, and among the remaining leadership a heated debate broke out between those who supported and even started the demonstrations, and those who opposed them.

According to reports at the time, Morsi was the one who opposed holding the demonstrations near the presidential palace. But the movement’s leader, Mohammed Badie, and his close deputies including Essam el-Erian and Khairat al-Shater, put him under enormous pressure. They, too, have been arrested and will be put on trial. In any case, the events laid the groundwork for Morsi’s overthrow eight months later and the army’s takeover.

Read the article in full at Haaretz