Cairo: Egypt’s newly appointed chief prosecutor Hesham Barakat has ordered prosecutors to investigate a mass jailbreak that involved former president Mohammad Mursi more than two years ago.
Last month, an Egyptian misdemeanour court said that Mursi and 33 other senior leaders in his Muslim Brotherhood group had escaped from prison with assistance from Hamas and Hezbollah during a 2011 revolt that ousted president Hosni Mubarak.
Chief judge Khalid Mahjub had said that the case was outside his court’s jurisdiction and should be re-investigated. Mahjub on Thursday met with Barakat, who became Egypt’s top prosecutor the day before, and handed him the case details, dubbed by the local media the ‘Great Escape’.
Mursi, who has been in the army’s custody since he was overthrown on July 3, will be questioned in the case, which could result in charges of illegal collaboration with Hamas and Hezbollah, sources said.
An estimated 11,000 inmates are believed to have fled prisons during the chaos that followed security agencies’ collapse at the peak of the uprising against Mubarak.
Mursi’s supporters have condemned his ouster as a “coup against legitimacy” and have since been staging massive protests, pushing for his restoration to power.
Several Brotherhood leaders are already in detention on charges of inciting deadly violence against opponents.
