Egypt has begun the military trial of at least 33 members of the banned opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood.
Defense lawyers boycotted Thursday's opening session because they say they were not informed that the trial was starting. The charges against the Muslim Brotherhood members are related to money laundering and terrorism.
The defendants include the Brotherhood's third highest ranking member, Khayrat el-Shater, who was arrested in December during a crackdown on the organization.
The Muslim Brotherhood is officially banned in Egypt. But the group won nearly one-fifth of the seats in the lower house of parliament in 2005 by fielding candidates as independents.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP .
