Egypt's deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi was brought from the secret location of his four-month detention to face trial on Monday on charges of incitement of violence and murder. It was Morsi's first public appearance since his removal by the army on 3 July.
If convicted, Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, could face the death penalty.
Since his downfall Morsi has been held at a secret military location. He was flown to the venue of his trial – a police academy in an eastern Cairo – by helicopter, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported. His co-defendants, 14 senior members of his Muslim Brotherhood, were taken to the venue from their jail in a suburb south of the city, in armoured police cars.
The authorities switched the location of the trial at the last minute on Sunday, a move apparently aimed at thwarting mass rallies planned by Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood supporters.
Security was tight around the trial's venue, with hundreds of black-clad riot police backed by armoured vehicles deployed around the sprawling complex. Several armoured vehicles belonging to the army were also deployed. The final stretch of road leading to the academy was sealed off, with only authorised personnel and accredited journalists allowed to approach the facility.
The academy is also being used for the retrial of the previous president, Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled in the 2011 uprising. He is accused of failing to stop the killing of protesters.
Since his removal from office Morsi has been held at a secret military location with little communication with the outside world. He is likely to represent himself in the trial, the first public figure to do so in the host of trials of politicians since Mubarak's fall, Brotherhood lawyers have said.
Morsi will probably use the platform to insist he is still the legitimate president, question the trial's legitimacy and turn it into an indictment of the July coup.
During four months of detention, Morsi has been extensively questioned and has not been allowed to meet lawyers. He has spoken at least twice by telephone to his family and received two foreign delegations.
Brotherhood supporters have called the detention a kidnapping, and Morsi has refused to co-operate with his interrogators.
Morsi faces charges along with 14 other Brotherhood figures and allies, including top leaders Mohammed el-Beltagy and Essam el-Erian, in connection with clashes last December outside his presidential palace that left at least 10 dead.
Unlike Mubarak's trial, the proceedings against Morsi are not likely to be aired live and the former president will probably be taken back to where he has been held instead of being transferred to a normal prison after the first session, for fear his supporters would turn the prison into a "focal point of endless protests".
Both government officials and Morsi's supporters forecast bleak scenarios for Monday, with each side accusing the other of plotting killings, including that of Morsi himself.
A Brotherhood-led group has called for mass rallies, while the interior minister has ordered the deployment of large numbers of security forces to guard the trial venue. Ibrahim, the interior minister, has warned that any breach of security by Morsi supporters would be harshly dealt with.
On Sunday a newspaper known for its close ties to the military published what appeared to be the first pictures of Morsi from his detention.
The daily el-Watan published a transcript of remarks it says were made by Morsi and captured on video, describing him as being "in total denial" and saying "I am the president of the republic, in accordance with the constitution." Later in the day, it posted a video showing Morsi wearing a blue track suit, sitting on a chair and speaking calmly.
The paper quoted him as saying: "I will represent myself in front of any court ... I am not involved in killings of the protesters ... I will tell judges that."
A military official said the video was leaked to the paper to give his supporters a first glance of the former president, reducing the impact of his first public appearance.
International rights groups have called for a fair trial for Morsi.
In a statement on Sunday, Amnesty International said Morsi's trial was a "test" for the Egyptian authorities. They must grant him the "right to challenge the evidence against him in court", said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty's Middle East director.
Morsi's family considers the trial illegitimate and will not attend, his son Osama told the Associated Press on Sunday. He said they feared they would be mistreated and humiliated.
