MOSCOW, November 4 (RAPSI) - Proceedings got underway Monday against ousted former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, before promptly being adjourned until January 8, the BBC reported.

According to the report, Morsi responded defiantly when asked by the judge to state his name – telling the judge that he holds the presidency legitimately, and that the judge has no right to conduct proceedings over presidential business.

The Egyptian army deposed Morsi, who narrowly won the country’s first free presidential election in June 2012 with 51.7 percent of the vote, following mass nationwide protests against the rule of the Islamist president.

According to the BBC, he has been accused of encouraging supporters to commit premeditated murder, as well as inciting violence and “thuggery” in connection with at least ten deaths that occurred as a result of upheavals in December 2012.

Morsi’s presidential ouster was the second in about as many years.

Former president Hosni Mubarak’s three-decade reign over Egypt ended as the result of a bloody uprising in early 2011.

Upwards of 800 people were killed during the course of the protests that derailed Mubarak’s rule, including many protesters who were fired on by security forces. The uprising lasted from January 25 to February 11, 2011, at which point Mubarak resigned the presidency.

Egypt’s Supreme Military Council, which assumed control of the country following Mubarak’s resignation, promptly ordered an investigation into the protester casualties that occurred during the uprising. The fallen leader was then charged alongside his two sons with abuse of office, corruption, and in connection with the deaths of protesters during the winter uprising.