Egypt sentences deposed President Morsi to death
Print Edition
AN Egyptian court yesterday sentenced ousted President Mohammed Morsi to death over his part in a mass prison break that took place during the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
As is customary in passing capital punishment, Judge Shaaban el-Shami referred his sentence on Morsi and others to the nation’s top Muslim theologian, or mufti, for his non-binding opinion. He set June 2 for the next hearing.
Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, was ousted by the military in 2013, following days of mass street protests.
His successor, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, was the military chief at the time and led the ouster.
El-Sissi ran for president last year and won the vote in a landslide.
Also sentenced to death with Morsi in the prison break case were 105 defendants — about 70 of them Palestinians — most of whom were tried and convicted in absentia.
Supporters of Morsi and his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood chanted “down, down with military rule” as the verdict was announced.
Prosecutors alleged that members of the Palestinian Hamas group entered Egypt during the 18-day uprising through illegal tunnels running under Gaza’s border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Taking advantage of the turmoil, the militants fought their way into several prisons, releasing Morsi, more than 30 Brotherhood leaders and about 20,000 inmates, prosecutors said.
Several prison guards were killed and parts of the stormed prisons were damaged.
Morsi is currently serving a 20-year sentence following his conviction on April 21 on charges linked to the killing of protesters outside a Cairo presidential palace in December 2012.
The former president escaped a death sentence in a separate case before el-Shami related to allegations that Morsi, several of his aides and leaders of the Brotherhood allegedly passed state secrets to foreign groups during his year in office.
A total of 16 Brotherhood leaders and aides were sentenced to death by el-Shami in that case.
A verdict on Morsi’s role in that case will be announced at the June 2 hearing.
Even if confirmed by the mufti, yesterday’s death sentences still can be appealed.
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