Mohamed Morsi Trial Adjourned as Chaos Breaks out in Egyptian Court

Egypt's former president Mohamed Morsi claimed he remains Egypt's only legitimate leader as he stood trial on Monday, in his first public appearance since being deposed four months ago.

His presence sparked chaos in the courtroom, with Morsi's 14 co-defendants chanting against the army who ousted him, local journalists shouting for his execution and scuffles breaking out between rival lawyers. Amid the melee, Morsi and his colleagues rejected the authority of the court before the bedlam forced the presiding judge to adjourn proceedings until 8 January.

"What is happening now is a military coup," boomed Morsi after arriving in the defendants' cage – his first words in public since 2 July, when he gave a rambling televised speech the night before he was deposed by the army, following days of mass protests in which millions had called for the military to intervene.

"I am furious that the Egyptian judiciary should serve as cover for this criminal military coup," he continued.

Following days of uncertainty about whether Morsi would even be allowed to attend, he entered the courtroom shortly after 10am, his 14 colleagues greeting him with a polite round of applause. But proceedings quickly descended into farce, with the defendants' legal team chanting "the people demand the return of the president" and flashing a four-fingered "Rabaa" salute that has become a calling-card for Morsi supporters. Local journalists responded by shouting "execution", a reference to the death penalty some Egyptians hope await Morsi and his allies from the Muslim Brotherhood.

Then followed a scrum of journalists, who clambered over the court stalls and pushed past policemen to catch their first glimpse since July of Egypt's first democratically elected president. He appeared well, wearing a tieless dark suit – unlike his fellow defendants, who were clad in white prison tracksuits – and did not appear to have lost weight during his period of incommunicado incarceration. Other defendants had earlier spoken of a more difficult time in prison, with one claiming to journalists from inside the defendants' cage that they had almost all been tortured. The hair of former MP Mohamed Beltagy had turned from black to grey.

After the room quietened enough to let the presiding judge, Ahmed Sabry Youssef, formally begin proceedings, each defendant rejected the legitimacy of the court – arguing they had been imprisoned on political grounds. "I am Dr Mohamed Morsi and I am the president of the republic," shouted Morsi, when asked to identify himself. "This coup is a crime and treasonous, and the court is held responsible for it."

Another melee followed, with some journalists and policemen in the courtroom calling Morsi a traitor. One lawyer tried to throw a shoe, while others held up pictures of a reporter who was shot during street clashes last December – violence that Morsi is now accused of inciting.

Morsi is alleged to have encouraged the murder of protesters demonstrating outside Cairo's presidential palace last December, charges also faced by the 14 other senior officials from the Muslim Brotherhood. The 15 defendants are accused of ordering hundreds of Brotherhood cadres on 5 December 2012 to attack secular protesters camped outside his presidential palace demanding the abandonment of a constitution drafted by Morsi's allies. The confrontation sparked night-long clashes that left at least 11 dead, some of them Brotherhood supporters, and began a spiral of political upheaval that led to the army overthrowing Morsi in July, following days of mass protests.

Though Morsi and his co-defendants say they were arrested for political reasons resulting from July's regime change, human rights lawyers acting for those who died last December reminded journalists during a break in proceedings that their charges predate Morsi's overthrow.

"This is not a case that has been orchestrated," said Ragia Omran, a lawyer for the victims' families. "It's important to note that we filed the charges on 5 December itself."

Pandemonium inside the court on Monday twice forced the trial's adjournment. Each time it reconvened, Morsi made a further speech – speaking aloud four times in total. "This is not a court," he said in his final outburst. "This court, with all due respect to the people in it, is not specialised to deal with the trial of the president of the republic. This is a coup. I am held against my will. The coup is treasonous and a crime, and I am president of the republic."

The defendants' outburst led to unlikely exchanges between them and Youssef. "Mohamed, you are not the one running the court," the judge told Beltagy, a Muslim Brother who had earlier said he had been held in solitary confinement. "I am the one running the court."

During Morsi's final outburst, Youssef told the former president "malesh" – "never mind" – before giving up and leaving the courtroom for good. An official later announced the next session would be on 8 January, and said Morsi would be sent to prison instead of being held incommunicado in a military facility.

Throughout the session, Morsi refused to recognise the validity of the trial and rejected the right of his lawyer – Selim al-Awa, a prominent figure who also ran for president last year – to represent him. One of the Brotherhood's legal team later grudgingly admitted they would have to engage with the trial.

"The defendants don't want to recognise it, but this is the de facto court, and we are going to have to deal with it," said Bahaa Abdelrahman, a lawyer acting for Essam el-Arian, the senior Brotherhood official arrested only last week.