Court Sentences Former Egypt President, Morsi To Death

An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced Former President of Egypt, Mohammed Morsi to death for a mass prison break in 2011.

The Egyptian authorities had accused Mr. Morsi and over 100 other co-defendants of conspiring with Palestinian group (Hamas) and Lebanese group (Hezbollah) to break into prisons across Egypt in January 2011, facilitating the escape of Mr. Morsi and 20,000 others, CNN reports.


According to the media outfit, the court ruled that the sentencing of Morsi and 105 others will be referred to the Grand Mufti, the highest religious authority in Egypt, for confirmation.

Court Sentences Former Egypt President, Morsi To Death
Mohammed Morsi, former Egyptian president
Some others sentenced to death alongside Morsi include, Mohamed El-Shater, deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood; Mohamed El-Beltagy, a former Muslim Brotherhood member of parliament; Ahmed Abdel Aty, a former presidential aide; and Emad Shahin, a political science professor now in the United States.

At the declaration of their death sentences, those defendants present chanted “Allahu Akbar,” meaning “God is the greatest,” . They remained in the cage where prisoners are held in the courtroom, waving to journalists and lawyers as they chanted.

The court will pronounce its final decision on June 2.

Morsi, who was overthrown by the army in 2013 amid mass protests against his government, was spared the death sentence in his first trial as he was sentenced to 20 years in jail on charges of inciting violence and killing protesters outside the presidential palace in December 2012.

The Egyptian politician who served as the fifth President of Egypt, from 30 June 2012 to 3 July 2013, was later removed by Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi after the June 2013 Egyptian protests and the 2013 Egyptian coup d’état. He was the first democratically elected head of state in Egyptian history.