Mohammed Morsi Charged With Conspiracy, Espionage

Spying for Hamas

Egyptian authorities on Friday took their first formal legal steps against Mohamed Morsi since he was deposed as president earlier this month, ordering his detention, charging him with espionage and conspiracy and investigating him on other counts, as massive crowds of rival demonstrators took to the streets to support or protest his ouster.

Judicial authorities charged Morsi with spying for the militant Islamist organization Hamas and conspiring with the group in a 2011 prison break that freed him and other Muslim Brotherhood members during the Arab Spring uprising against Hosni Mubarak.