Headlines
Former Egyptian president Morsi sentenced to death
Cairo, May 16
An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi to death in a 2011 a jailbreak case.
The
Cairo Criminal Court on Saturday issued a preliminary ruling of death
for Morsi and 105 other defendants in the trial known as the "Natroun
Jailbreak case", Al Ahram online reported
The court has sent its
decision to the country's Grand Mufti for a consultative review as
required by Egyptian law, setting June 2 for a final verdict.
Morsi
and the 130 co-defendants are accused of breaking out of jail during
the 2011 uprising against then president Hosni Mubarak.
The court
also issued a preliminary death ruling against Muslim Brotherhood
leaders Mohamed El-Beltagy and Khairat El-Shater and 14 others in the
trial of what is known as the Hamas espionage case. This verdict was
also sent to the Grand Mufti for a consultative review.
In this
case, Morsi and 35 others are charged with conspiring with foreign
powers - including Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Lebanon's Hezbollah
and Iran's Revolutionary Guards - to destabilise Egypt.
The Grand Mufti's opinion is non-binding on the court.
The defendants retain the right to appeal any final verdict.
Morsi
will be the first president in Egypt's history to face death by hanging
if the court ratifies its initial decision on June 2 or he loses his
projected appeal, the Al Ahram report said.