Egypt’s former President Mohammed Morsi dies in court, state TV reports
Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s former president, died Monday after collapsing during a session in court, state television reported.
The 67-year-old was the country’s first democratically elected president and a member of Egypt’s most powerful Islamist group, the now banned Muslim Brotherhood.
Morsi was on trial for espionage and had just addressed the court, warning he had “many secrets” he could reveal, when he blacked out, reports said. He was taken to a Cairo hospital but could not be revived.
“He was speaking before the judge for 20 minutes then became very animated and fainted,” a judicial source told Agence France-Presse.
The Islamist was democratically elected in 2012, one year after the popular uprising that ended the rule of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.
Correspondent Ruth Micahaelson in Cairo told DW that authorities were “increasing security” across Egypt amid fears that “violent offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood may take action folllowing the incident.”
Read more: Is Egypt heading toward another uprising?
Divisive rule
Morsi, often described as a divisive figure, spent just one year in office. He was toppled by the army in July 2013 following mass protests against his government. Critics accused him of disregarding the ideals of the anti-Mubarak uprising and failing to represent all Egyptians.
His then-defense minister and army chief, current President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, took power and was subsequently elected president. Morsi and thousands of other members of the Brotherhood were jailed in the crackdown that followed.
The former president has faced court several times since then on charges that include plotting terror attacks and spying for Iran. Monday’s session was part of a retrial over allegations of espionage connected to Palestinian militant group Hamas. He was also serving a 20-year sentence related to the killing of protesters during 2012 demonstrations, as well as a life sentence for espionage for Qatar. He had denied all charges.
Read more: Can Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi make Egypt great again?
Recent amendments to the constitution mean El-Sissi could stay in power until 2030
Erdogan honors a a ‘martyr’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was a Morsi ally, paid tribute to the former leader: “May Allah rest our Morsi brother, our martyr’s soul in peace,” he said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the “coup moved him (Morsi) away from the power but his memory will not be erased.”
Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, a key backer of the Muslim Brotherhood, expressed his “deep sorrow” over Morsi’s death. “I extend to his family and to the Egyptian people brotherly condolences,” Al-Thani wrote on Twitter.
Mohammed Sudan, a leading Brotherhood member in London, called Morsi’s death a “premeditated murder,” saying the ex-president had been deprived of medical treatment.
“He has been placed behind a glass cage (during trials). No one can hear him or know what is happening to him,” Sudan said. “He hasn’t received any visits for months … He complained before that he doesn’t get his medicine. This is premeditated murder. This is slow death.”
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director with the Human Rights Watch, tweeted that Morsi’s death was “terrible but entirely predictable” given the government “failure to allow him adequate medical care, much less family visits.”
-
Egypt’s deadliest terror attacks
1997 Luxor massacre
Sixty-two tourists were killed at Egypt’s Deir el-Bahri archaeological site in Luxor. Six assailants, thought to have been linked to al-Qaida, disguised themselves as members of the security forces and descended on the temple armed with automatic machine guns and knives. Egyptian tourist police and military forces eventually stopped the attackers, who were either killed or committed suicide.
-
Egypt’s deadliest terror attacks
2004 Sinai bombings
A series of bomb attacks targeting tourists in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula killed 34 people and injured 171. Most of the casualties were killed after a truck drove into the lobby of the Taba Hilton. Two more bombs went off at campsites some 50 kilometers away, killing a handful of people. Roughly half the casualties were foreigners, including 12 Israelis.
-
Egypt’s deadliest terror attacks
2005 Sharm el-Sheikh attacks
The attack in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh was carried out on Egypt’s Revolution Day and for a decade remained the worst Islamist attack in Egypt’s history. A series of bombs planted close to bars and restaurants, as well as by a hotel, killed 88 people and injured 150. The majority of victims were locals, although a number of tourists also died, including 11 British nationals.
-
Egypt’s deadliest terror attacks
2006 Dahab bombings
The attack on the the Egyptian resort city of Dahab marked the third consecutive year that tourist resorts had been targeted. A series of blasts in a restaurant, a café and a market killed at least 23 people, most of whom were local, and wounded around 80. Egyptian officials maintain that the attacks were carried out by the Islamist cell known as Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, a forerunner of “IS.”
-
Egypt’s deadliest terror attacks
2015 Metrojet Flight 9268 disaster
All 224 mostly Russian passengers were killed when Metrojet Flight 9268 suddenly dropped out of the sky over the Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, shortly after having taken off from Sharm el-Sheikh international airport. Authorities agree that it appeared a bomb had been snuck on board. The so-called “Islamic State” jihadi group claimed responsibility for the attack.
-
Egypt’s deadliest terror attacks
2016 Attacks on Egypt’s Coptic Christian minorities
While Egypt’s Coptic Christians have for decades been targeted by Islamists, deadly attacks on Coptic churches have increased dramatically in recent months. At least 102 Egyptian Christians have been killed in four separate attacks since December 2016.
-
Egypt’s deadliest terror attacks
2017 Coptic church and Al-Rawda mosque bombings
On April 9, 2017, the Coptic church faith followers encountered devastating twin blasts in Tanta and Alexandria as they celebrated Palm Sunday, killing 28 and 17 people respectively. On November 24, 2017, a bomb went off outside of Al-Rawda mosque in the city of Al-Arish in the northern Sinai Peninsula, which claimed the lives of more than 300 people and injured 109 others.
Born in the northern Sharqiya province in 1951, Morsi studied engineering at Cairo University before taking up a scholarship position in the United States in 1982. He returned to Egypt in 1985 and became a professor at Zagazig University. In the last years of Mubarak’s presidency, he became a senior official in the Muslim Brotherhood.
nm/rt (AFP, AP, dpa)
Every evening, DW sends out a selection of the day’s news and features. Sign up here.
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/egypt-s-former-president-mohammed-morsi-dies-in-court-state-tv-reports/a-49238572?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf