The same court that handed death sentences to 529 supporters of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Mursi on Monday, was ready to put the leader of Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and 682 others on trial on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
In what is being called Egypt's biggest mass death sentence in modern history, 70-year-old Mohamed Badie, Brotherhood Supreme Guide and the others were due to stand trial in Minya province on charges including murder.
Since Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected president, was thrown off, the army has come down hard on the Brotherhood.
During a long sit-in protest for Mursi's reinstatement in August, hundreds of Brotherhood supporters and thousands of others, including leaders and Mursi, were arrested and put on trial.
After disapproving of irregularities, Tuesday's court session was boycotted by many defense lawyers. Only 60 of the defendants attended the trial, according to Reuters.
"We refrained from attending ... because the judge has violated criminal law procedures and did not allow the (lawyers) to present their defense," Adel Ali, a member of the defense team, told Reuters.
With 77 of the defendants being in custody, the others had either been granted bail or were on the run, Ali said.
Comments were declined to be given by a government spokesman due to the trial being extremely sensitive, Reuters reported.
Claiming that the mass death sentences violated international law, UN, along with U.S. and the European Union criticized Egypt's ruling decision on Monday.
Despite severe restrictions being carried out during demonstrations, Egyptians have been encouraged by the Brotherhood to take to the streets in politically sensitive areas of Cairo in order to protest against the mass trials, Reuters reported.
Political upheaval slammed the Arab state when veteran leader Hosni Mubarak was brought down in 2011 by an army-backed popular uprising.
"The Brotherhood, believed to number about one million in a population of 85 million and which has won most elections since Mubarak's ouster in 2011, has been declared a "terrorist" group by the government," Reuters reported.
However, the Brotherhood claims to be a group of peaceful activists.
