wCAIRO – An Egyptian judge halted the trial of leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood on Wednesday, Dec. 10, after they shouted slogans and refused to cooperate with the court.

Judge Mustafa Salama said the case of the Brotherhood’s General Guide Mohamed Badie and fellow defendants, who are charged with inciting the killing of protesters, would be transferred to the Cairo appeals court.

Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie looks on from the defendant’s cage during his trial with other leaders of the group in a courtroom in Cairo December 11.

Badie earlier led his co-accused in chants against the army-backed government, shouting “Down, down with military rule” from the cage where defendants are held in Egypt.

The leaders were arrested in a crackdown on the Brotherhood after the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July following mass protests against his rule.

It was the second time their trial had been halted. In October, a separate panel of judges withdrew from the case after a hearing which the defendants did not attend.

The charges against Badie, his deputy Khairat al-Shater and Brotherhood leaders Saad Katatni and Mohamed el-Beltagi relate to a June 30 protest against the Brotherhood near its Cairo headquarters in which nine people were killed and 91 wounded.

“Egypt tasted the sweetness of freedom, dignity and pride after Morsi took the presidency after the January revolution and he will not abandon (the revolution),” Badie told the court, according to judicial sources. He was referring to the revolt in which autocrat Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in early 2011.

Relatives of the accused erupted in applause after the judge announced the case would be transferred.

Badie said this week the Brotherhood had perpetrated no violence, as his trial in another case began at a police academy where Morsi appeared in court last month.

Police fired tear gas for the fourth day running on Thursday at student supporters of the Brotherhood at Al-Azhar University. Authorities arrested 19 students at Al-Azhar and seven at Cairo University, also the scene of violent protests this week.