Mohamed Morsy addresses the U.N. General Assembly on September 26, 2012
(CNN) — Former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy will stand trial on charges of incitement to conduct murder and “thuggery” relating to clashes near the presidential palace in December, state-run MENA reported Sunday.
The country’s general prosecutor ordered Morsy to stand trial along with 14 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the news agency said.
No date was given for the trial.
The charges stem from when pro- and anti-Morsy protesters clashed outside the presidential palace in early December.
Demonstrators were protesting his then-recent edict granting himself sweeping powers and a proposed constitution — drafted by an Islamist-dominated council — that they feared would give him even more power.
After Morsy supporters chased protesters from the grounds, both sides threw rocks, fireworks and Molotov cocktails.
At least 10 people were killed, according to the semiofficial al-Ahram newspaper.
Citing investigators, it said that Morsy and his staff are accused of ordering supporters to attack protesters after guards and members of the Interior Ministry reportedly refused to do it.
Morsy, who was deposed by the military amid widespread protest over his rule, has been held in detention since early July.
Egypt has been in turmoil since then, with the military battling Muslim Brotherhood members and other Morsy supporters.
Each side blames the other for stoking the violence.
Last month, about 900 people — citizens as well as members of security forces — were killed. The deaths occurred when the military used force to clear two pro-Morsy sit-in sites in Cairo.
Morsy was elected after longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak was toppled.
Mubarak appeared in court last week as his retrial resumed on charges involving the killing of hundreds of protesters during the popular 2011 uprising that led to his ouster.
Mubarak was convicted on the charges last year and sentenced to life in prison, but he appealed the ruling and was granted a retrial. A court ordered Mubarak released last month and placed under house arrest.
