The Supreme State Security Court decided Wednesday to postpone a case accusing a Jordanian national and an alleged Israeli Mossad officer of spying until 18 April.
Egyptian security forces arrested telecommunications engineer Bashar Ibrahim Abu Zeid in March 2011. He is alleged to have entered Egypt after the 25 January uprising to work as an agent for the Israeli intelligence service, the Mossad.
Another man, Ofer Herari, is accused of being responsible for overseeing Abu Zeid's activities in Egypt. He is to be tried in absentia, having already fled Egypt.
A movement was approved to enable Abu Zeid to apply for a change of judges.
On entering the defendant's cage, Abu Zeid screamed and demanded the court panel be changed, claiming this one had already formed decided to convict him of treason.
He added that the witnesses hid the identities of the three telecommunications companies during investigations so they would not be accused.
He also said he was subjected to torture and that the presiding judge did not allow him to be examined so it would not be revealed that he was tortured.
The suspect’s lawyer said the court did not investigate the defense's requests. He demanded to start processes to exclude the head of the court from the panel.
Presiding judge Makram Awwad responded, saying he would allow the defense to take the required procedures.
According to Egyptian intelligence services, Abu Zeid and Herari agreed to intercept international calls coming into Egypt and transfer them to Israel, thereby allowing Israeli security services to eavesdrop on calls related to Egypt's national security.
Investigators also claim that Herari entrusted Abu Zeid with searching for Egyptian intelligence agents working in the field of telecommunications.
Abu Zeid was also allegedly assigned to collect data on certain employees, especially those working with Egyptian mobile operators and who travel abroad for work, with the aim of recruiting suitable candidates to work for the Mossad.
