World Bulletin / News Desk

Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi and seven other defendants arrived to a Cairo courthouse on Thursday for the 9th trial session to answer charges of inciting the murder of opposition demonstrators outside Ittihadiya presidential palace in 2012.

"All defendants in custody have arrived to the court amid tight security measures," a security source told Anadolu Agency. Morsi was flown to the court venue inside the Police Academy in eastern Cairo from his Alexandria jail, he added.

The last trial session on Tuesday saw defense lawyers asking for the recusal of the judges, prompting the presiding judges to postpone the hearings.

The defense lawyers, in an earlier statement, said judge Ahmed Suleiman appeared on television last month and "made an opinion on the case."

The judge's television appearance contradicts with the law, and obliges the presiding judges to recuse themselves, the statement added.

Morsi and 14 other defendants – including seven tried in absentia – are charged with inciting the murder of opposition demonstrators during clashes that broke out between Morsi's supporters and opponents outside Ittihadiya.

A total of 11 people, including eight Morsi supporters, were killed in the clashes.

But the case against Morsi and the other defendants only addresses the death of a reporter and two anti-Morsi protesters.

Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was ousted by the military last July following protests against his one year in office.

He is currently on four different trials on multiple charges, including espionage, jailbreak and offending the judiciary.