America
US 'deeply troubled' over death sentence to Mohammed Morsi
Washington, June 17
President Barack
Obama's administration said on Tuesday that it is "deeply troubled" by
the death sentence handed down against deposed Egyptian President
Mohammed Morsi, contending that it was politically motivated.
At
his daily press conference, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the
result of Morsi's trial is another example of a "politically motivated"
sentence, and he expressed his unease over the judicial practices of the
new Egyptian government.
"The US has repeatedly raised concerns
about the detention and sentencing of a variety of political figures in
Egypt," said Earnest, adding that "we are concerned that proceedings
have been conducted in a way that is not only contrary to universal
values but also damaging to (the) stability that all Egyptians deserve."
Specifically,
the White House condemned the mass trials against opposition figures or
critics of the regime and said it had conveyed those concerns to the
government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
The
Criminal Court in Cairo on Tuesday confirmed the death sentences imposed
on the former Egyptian president and almost 100 Islamists for planning
his escape from a prison on the outskirts of Cairo during the 2011
revolution.
Judge Shaaban al-Shami issued his ruling in the case
after receiving the non-binding opinion of Mufti Shauqi Alam, Egypt's
top Muslim religious authority, regarding the provisional death
sentences meted out a month ago.
Morsi was toppled by the
Egyptian military in 2013 after coming to power in elections resulting
from the popular revolution that two years before had put an end to the
three-decade dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak.