By Chrysanthus Ikeh
An Egyptian court has sentenced the ousted president, Mohamed Morsi to death for his part in a mass jailbreak in 2011.
The verdict, which was passed by Judge Shaaban el-Shami, was announced today, May 16, 2015 in a Cairo court where Morsi was also facing charges of espionage. As is customary in passing capital punishment, the death sentence on Morsi and more than 100 others will be referred to the country’s top Muslim theologian, or mufti, for his non-binding opinion.
Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, was ousted by the military in July 2013 after days of mass street protests by Egyptians demanding his removal because of his divisive policies.
Before his sentencing, Morsi was already serving a 20-year term on charges linked to the killing of protesters outside a Cairo presidential palace in December 2012. The court will pronounce its final decision on Tuesday, June 2, 2015.
Mohamed Morsi, who is the fifth and the first democratically elected head of state in Egypt’s history, was in office from June 20, 2012 to 3 July 2013 when he was removed by Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
