BackEgypt court sentences ex-president Mohamed Mursi to death on espionage
The Egyptian court announced the verdict against Mursi in a televised session
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Cairo: Former Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi was sentenced to death following charges that he collaborated with foreign groups and escaped from prison during the 2011 revolt against his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak.
A court announced the verdicts against Mursi, 63, in a televised session on Saturday, at which he was present. The sentence is pending approval by the nation’s top Muslim theologian, or Mufti, a customary procedure when passing capital punishment in Egypt.
Mursi, who became Egypt’s first freely elected civilian president in 2012, was sentenced last month to 20 years in prison in connection with violence that erupted near the presidential palace in Cairo during a protest against his rule. He remains on trial for other charges including insulting the judiciary, and spying for Qatar.
In the espionage case, Mursi and 35 co-defendants, including leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood Islamist group, were accused of divulging state secrets and conspiring with foreign powers to carry out acts of terrorism in Egypt.
Mursi and 130 others, including dozens of members of the Palestinian Hamas movement and Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah group, were also accused of escaping from prisons and attacking police during the uprising against Mubarak, who led Egypt for 30 years until his ousting. Bloomberg
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