Egypt overturns death sentence for ex-President Mohammed Morsi

November 15, 2016 By administrator

Egypt has overturned the death penalty for an Islamist president who played a key role in a mass prison break-out, The Sun reports.

Mohammed Morsi was condemned to death for his part in the 2011 revolution and ousted from his role.

The former leader of the now banned Muslim Brotherhood movement rose to presidency following the revolution, but was removed a year later by the military after street protests against his rule.

The former president had been sentenced to life in prison for terror offences and awaits sentencing for other charges.

But Egypt’s highest court has now overturned the ruling.

The Sun. Egypt overturns death sentence for Islamist President Mohammed Morsi for his role in a mass prison break-out

Egypt sentences ex-President Morsi to life in espionage trial

June 18, 2016 By administrator

morci-sentance An Egyptian court Saturday, June 18 sentenced former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi to life in prison in an espionage trial in which six of his co-defendants were handed death penalties, AFP reports.

The court acquitted Morsi of charges of having supplied Qatar with classified documents but sentenced him to life for leading an unlawful organisation, his lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maksoud told AFP.

The ousted president was also convicted of having “stolen secret documents concerning state security” and handed another 15-year jail term, the lawyer added.

Qatar was a main backer of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement while he was in power between 2012 and July 2013, when the military overthrew and detained him, AFP says.

Morsi has been sentenced to death in a separate trial for his alleged role in prison breaks and attacks on police stations during the 2011 uprising that overthrew veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak.

He has also received a life sentence and a 20-year jail term in two other trials.

On Saturday the court confirmed death sentences against six defendants, including three journalists tried in absentia who allegedly helped relay secret documents to Qatar.

The journalists have been identified as Ibrahim Mohamed Hilal and Jordanian citizen Alaa Omar Mohamed Sablan, both of Qatar-based Al-Jazeera channel.

The third has been named as Asmaa Mohamed al-Khatib, a female reporter with pro-Muslim Brotherhood news outlet Rassd, AFP says.

The death sentences had been sent to the mufti — Egypt’s official interpreter of Islamic law — as Egyptian law requires his opinion on death sentences although his opinion is not binding.

The verdicts can be appealed.

AFP. Egypt’s Morsi sentenced to life in espionage trial

Ousted Egypt President Mohammed Morsi sentenced to death

May 16, 2015 By administrator

Egypt’s ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi has been sentenced to death on charges of jailbreak. Morsi’s case will now be referred to a religious authority before an execution can take place.

An Egyptian court sentenced the country’s former president, and more than 100 other defendants, to death on Saturday over a mass prison escape during the 2011 uprising that toppled then President Hosni Mubarak.

Morsi sat through the reading of Judge Shaaban el-Shami’s verdict in a caged dock.

Many of the other defendants were tried in absentia, including prominent Islamic cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi who lives in Qatar.

Supporters of the ousted president chanted “down, down with military rule” as el-Shami read his verdict in the packed courtroom, a converted lecture theater in the national police academy in an eastern suburb of Cairo.

As is customary in decisions resulting in capital punishment, the case will now be referred to the country’s top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for opinion before any execution can occur. His decision at the June 2 hearing is non-binding.

‘Political verdict’

An official from Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood party, Amr Darrag, condemned the decision and called on the international community to take action.

“This is a political verdict and represents a murder crime that is about to be committed, and it should be stopped by the international community,” Darrag, co-founder of the now defunct Freedom and Justice Party, a political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, told the Reuters news agency.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed the death sentence decision, saying, “the popularly-elected president of Egypt…has unfortunately been sentenced to death. Egypt is turning back into ancient Egypt.” Speaking at a political rally in Istanbul, Erdogan further accused the West of “turning a blind eye” to the 2013 coup.

Prosecutors allege armed members of the Palestinian Hamas group entered Egypt during the 18-day revolt through illegal tunnels under Gaza’s border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. The militants then fought their way into several jails, releasing Morsi along with more than 30 other Muslim Brotherhood leaders and 20,000 inmates.

Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president was ousted in 2013 by the military following days of street protests demanding his removal. The president’s overthrow triggered a government crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Hundreds of movement members have died and thousands have been imprisoned following now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s banning of the group. Al-Sisi was the military chief at the time Morsi was overthrown and led the coup.

Morsi was sentenced last month to 20 years in prison for inciting violence against protestors in 2012 when he was the country’s president. Rights group, Amnesty International called the verdict a “travesty of justice.”

Even if the mufti confirms Morsi’s death sentence, he can still appeal the verdict.

jlw/bw (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)