Death Sentence for Mohamed Morsi Confirmed

A court in Egypt on Tuesday, June 16, confirmed the death sentence for Mohamed Morsi, the ousted president of the country, on charges of 'murder, kidnapping,' and other accusations related to his role in the mass escape of prisoners during the 2011 Egyptian revolution. According to Reuters and The Guardian, Morsi's death sentence, issued by the court in May, required the approval of the Grand Mufti of Egypt, and this recent confirmation came after consultation with the Grand Mufti, the highest religious authority in the country. This ruling can still be appealed in the Supreme Court, and Morsi's lawyer stated on Tuesday that he intends to file an appeal against this ruling. Additionally, it was reported that early Tuesday, the court also sentenced Morsi to life imprisonment in another case related to 'conspiracy with foreign groups.' According to the court's ruling, Mohamed Badie, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and four other leaders of the group were also sentenced to death; in this court, death sentences were issued in absentia for more than 80 others. One senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood described the court proceedings as 'below all international standards,' and Yahya Hamid, a former minister in Morsi's government, said at a press conference in Istanbul that the confirmation of Morsi's death sentence was 'a nail in the coffin of democracy in Egypt.' Mohamed Morsi was the first democratically elected president of Egypt, but after widespread protests against him, the Egyptian military removed him from power. Following Morsi's ouster, Egyptian security forces killed hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters and arrested thousands more. The issuance of a death sentence for Morsi has also drawn criticism from the United States and other Western governments and human rights organizations. The Iranian Foreign Ministry expressed 'regret' over the death sentences issued in Egypt concerning the Muslim Brotherhood, calling these sentences 'an encouragement of violence and elimination methods.' Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary-General, had previously expressed deep concern over the death sentence for the ousted president of Egypt.