I cannot see how this could possibly end badly.
Egypt’s top prosecutor on Sunday referred ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to trial on charges of inciting the killing of opponents protesting outside his palace while he was in office, the state news agency said.
The military ousted Morsi on July 3 after millions took to the streets demanding that he step down. He’s been held incommunicado since. Despite other accusations by prosecutors, the decision Sunday is Morsi’s first referral to trial. No date was announced for the trial.
Mind you: Morsi is as guilty as sin. I normally try to avoid opining too openly on guilt or innocence in upcoming court cases, but I feel safe to do so here because it’s a) not happening in my country’s legal jurisdiction and b) even if Morsi was innocent of inciting the killing of protestors he’ll still end up being convicted of inciting the killing of protestors. Not that that last part will prevent a backlash anyway; even though he’s guilty, Morsi will still be loudly proclaimed as being innocent by people who are looking for a half-plausible reason for dropping the match into the accelerant.
Moe Lane
PS: Moral of the story? Measure twice, cut once.
[UPDATE] PPS: My wife noted that this would actually be a time where the Hague or something would be useful: the case doesn’t involve Israel and it doesn’t involve America, so maybe the ICC wouldn’t be completely worthless.