Alaa Abul Nasr, secretary general of Jama'a al-Islamiya's Construction and Development Party, has claimed that the trial of deposed President Mohamed Morsy is an attempt to tarnish his elected legitimacy with a criminal conviction.

 

“The trial is not of the president but of the will of the people,” he claimed.

 

“The regime wants to consolidate its legitimacy with a constitution whose Constituent Assembly was not elected by the people,” he added. “But demonstrations will not stop because we are not defending a certain individual or faction.”

 

Nasr declined to talk about his group’s mediatory role in attempted reconciliation between the Muslim Brotherhood and the regime.

 

“The trial was not broadcast live in case it became a trial of the coup leaders themselves,” he said.

 

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm