Egypt’s former Islamist President Mohammad Mursi has struck a defiant tone at the beginning of his trial over his escape from prison in 2011.

Egypt's former Islamist President Mohammad Mursi has struck a defiant tone at the beginning of his trial over his escape from prison in 2011.

Mursi started shouting: "I am the president of the republic, how can I be kept in a dump for weeks?"

Mursi is now facing four separate criminal trials on various charges.

Mursi and other defendants in the case are appearing in a sound-proofed glass box during the trial. He will only be permitted to address the court after raising his hand.

At one point, journalists were given the chance to hear what was going on in the glass cage, the BBC's Abdel Bassir Hassan reports from the courtroom.

The defendants started shouting: "Down with military rule" and the judge cut off the sound.

Later, Mursi began shouting that he was still the legitimate president and demanded: "Who are you, who are you?"

The defendants also made the four-finger "Rabaa" protest sign, referring to the clearing of the pro-Mursi Rabaa al-Adawiya protest camp in August.

Today is the third anniversary of the jailbreak at the centre of the case, during which police officers were killed.