An Egyptian Court on Monday adjourned the trial of a Jordanian citizen accused of spying for Israel to 4 March, after the defendant's lawyers requested further evidence of their client's email, telephone and banking activities.
Egyptian security forces arrested telecommunications engineer Bashar Ibrahim Abu Zeid in March. He is alleged to have entered Egypt after the 25 January uprising to work as an agent for 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.
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 charged Abu Zeid with searching for Egyptian intelligence agents working in the field of telecommunications.
Abu Zeid was also charged with collecting 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.
A judicial source told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the court adjourned the trial after the defense team requested permission to obtain a statement of the defendant's bank account in order to review his money transfers.
The defense also requested permission to obtain data on calls made on the phone lines found in his possession, and asked that a State Security Prosecution committee examine the defendant’s laptop computer and e-mail account.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
