let's to to orla guerin outside the court in upper egypt. what is happening at the court, orla?>> the latest information we have is the case has been adjourned. it's taking place in extremely unusual circumstances behind the security presence that you may be able to see across the street. behind those barriers the court has been in session the past few hours. the judge has been proceeding. any of the defense lawyers and most of the defenses. now there are about 680 accused in this case. but as was the situation with yesterday's mass trial, most of them are not present p. most are tried in absentia. only 62 are in court. that number does not include a key figure of the trial. now, he was not brought for security reasons. the defense lawyers are not up the road in the court because they have imposed a boycott. all the lawyers are staging a protest about the conduct of yesterday's trial in which those mass death sentences were handed down at extraordinary speed. it was only the second day of their trial. so the lawyers have stayed out of today's proceedings. the judge has gone ahea

orla guerin says they are questioning the validity and fairness of the trial. >> the lawyers involved in this case as you say, say they have been denied justice. it was described as a black mark against the egyptian judiciary. we have had reaction from the muslim brotherhood, the verdict of a kangaroo court. as several legal experts are tell us they believe this case will be subject to a retrial. now, it was the killing of one police officer. it has resulted in death sentences handed down to 529 defendants at breathtaking speed. the verdict was announced at what was the second session of the trial. it began saturday. that opening hearing was cut short by the presiding judge. he was apparently unhappy at what was lawyers discussing politics in court. those representing the victims are the defendants in this case and say they have been denied due process. we expect there will be an appeal in this case. >> only 100 of them are in custody at the moment, aren't they? >> we believe 150 are in custody according to media reports. the rest either on bail or on the run. the death sentence has b