SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's First Freely Elected President, Sentenced to Death
'The death penalty has become the favorite tool for the Egyptian authorities to purge the political opposition,' says Amnesty International
May 16, 2015
An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced ousted president Mohamed Morsi and more than 100 other defendants to death for their role in a 2011 mass prison break.
Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was ousted by the military in July 2013 after days of street protests by Egyptians demanding that he be removed because of his divisive rule. His overthrow triggered a government crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood movement in which hundreds of people have died and thousands have been imprisoned.
Last month, Morsi, along with 14 other defendants, was sentenced to 20 years in maximum security prison and five years of parole over the killing of demonstrators outside his palace in 2012.
Al Jazeera reports that many of those sentenced on Saturday were tried in absentia, including Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an influential Islamic scholar based in Qatar.
According to the Associated Press, "Supporters of Morsi and his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood chanted 'down, down with military rule' as the verdict was announced in the courtroom, a converted lecture hall in the national police academy in an eastern Cairo suburb."
All along, rights groups including Amnesty International have criticized the trials as being "grossly unfair" and indicative of "the deplorable state of the country's criminal justice system."
Following Saturday's announcement, Said Boumedouha, deputy director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Program, declared: "Condemning Mohamed Morsi to death after more grossly unfair trials shows a complete disregard for human rights. His trials were undermined even before he set foot in the courtroom. The fact that he was held for months incommunicado without judicial oversight and that he didn't have a lawyer to represent him during the investigations makes these trials nothing but a charade based on null and void procedures."
Boumedouha added: "The death penalty has become the favourite tool for the Egyptian authorities to purge the political opposition. Most of those sentenced to death by courts since July 2013 have been Morsi supporters. The deal seems to be: Support Morsi and get sentenced to death or to years behind bars. Instead, Egypt must ensure the independence and impartiality of the justice system and bring to justice all those responsible for gross human rights violations."
Calling on the international community to step in and stop the execution, Amr Darrag, co-founder of the dissolved Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Brotherhood, told Reuters in Istanbul: "This is a political verdict and represents a murder crime that is about to be committed."
As per Egyptian law, the case now goes to the country's top Muslim theologian, or mufti, for his non-binding opinion--a mandatory procedure before a criminal court can formally hand down the death sentence. If Morsi and the other defendants are sentenced to death when the court hands down its final verdict on June 2, they will be able to appeal their death sentences before Egypt's highest court, the Court of Cassation.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced ousted president Mohamed Morsi and more than 100 other defendants to death for their role in a 2011 mass prison break.
Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was ousted by the military in July 2013 after days of street protests by Egyptians demanding that he be removed because of his divisive rule. His overthrow triggered a government crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood movement in which hundreds of people have died and thousands have been imprisoned.
Last month, Morsi, along with 14 other defendants, was sentenced to 20 years in maximum security prison and five years of parole over the killing of demonstrators outside his palace in 2012.
Al Jazeera reports that many of those sentenced on Saturday were tried in absentia, including Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an influential Islamic scholar based in Qatar.
According to the Associated Press, "Supporters of Morsi and his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood chanted 'down, down with military rule' as the verdict was announced in the courtroom, a converted lecture hall in the national police academy in an eastern Cairo suburb."
All along, rights groups including Amnesty International have criticized the trials as being "grossly unfair" and indicative of "the deplorable state of the country's criminal justice system."
Following Saturday's announcement, Said Boumedouha, deputy director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Program, declared: "Condemning Mohamed Morsi to death after more grossly unfair trials shows a complete disregard for human rights. His trials were undermined even before he set foot in the courtroom. The fact that he was held for months incommunicado without judicial oversight and that he didn't have a lawyer to represent him during the investigations makes these trials nothing but a charade based on null and void procedures."
Boumedouha added: "The death penalty has become the favourite tool for the Egyptian authorities to purge the political opposition. Most of those sentenced to death by courts since July 2013 have been Morsi supporters. The deal seems to be: Support Morsi and get sentenced to death or to years behind bars. Instead, Egypt must ensure the independence and impartiality of the justice system and bring to justice all those responsible for gross human rights violations."
Calling on the international community to step in and stop the execution, Amr Darrag, co-founder of the dissolved Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Brotherhood, told Reuters in Istanbul: "This is a political verdict and represents a murder crime that is about to be committed."
As per Egyptian law, the case now goes to the country's top Muslim theologian, or mufti, for his non-binding opinion--a mandatory procedure before a criminal court can formally hand down the death sentence. If Morsi and the other defendants are sentenced to death when the court hands down its final verdict on June 2, they will be able to appeal their death sentences before Egypt's highest court, the Court of Cassation.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced ousted president Mohamed Morsi and more than 100 other defendants to death for their role in a 2011 mass prison break.
Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was ousted by the military in July 2013 after days of street protests by Egyptians demanding that he be removed because of his divisive rule. His overthrow triggered a government crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood movement in which hundreds of people have died and thousands have been imprisoned.
Last month, Morsi, along with 14 other defendants, was sentenced to 20 years in maximum security prison and five years of parole over the killing of demonstrators outside his palace in 2012.
Al Jazeera reports that many of those sentenced on Saturday were tried in absentia, including Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an influential Islamic scholar based in Qatar.
According to the Associated Press, "Supporters of Morsi and his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood chanted 'down, down with military rule' as the verdict was announced in the courtroom, a converted lecture hall in the national police academy in an eastern Cairo suburb."
All along, rights groups including Amnesty International have criticized the trials as being "grossly unfair" and indicative of "the deplorable state of the country's criminal justice system."
Following Saturday's announcement, Said Boumedouha, deputy director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Program, declared: "Condemning Mohamed Morsi to death after more grossly unfair trials shows a complete disregard for human rights. His trials were undermined even before he set foot in the courtroom. The fact that he was held for months incommunicado without judicial oversight and that he didn't have a lawyer to represent him during the investigations makes these trials nothing but a charade based on null and void procedures."
Boumedouha added: "The death penalty has become the favourite tool for the Egyptian authorities to purge the political opposition. Most of those sentenced to death by courts since July 2013 have been Morsi supporters. The deal seems to be: Support Morsi and get sentenced to death or to years behind bars. Instead, Egypt must ensure the independence and impartiality of the justice system and bring to justice all those responsible for gross human rights violations."
Calling on the international community to step in and stop the execution, Amr Darrag, co-founder of the dissolved Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Brotherhood, told Reuters in Istanbul: "This is a political verdict and represents a murder crime that is about to be committed."
As per Egyptian law, the case now goes to the country's top Muslim theologian, or mufti, for his non-binding opinion--a mandatory procedure before a criminal court can formally hand down the death sentence. If Morsi and the other defendants are sentenced to death when the court hands down its final verdict on June 2, they will be able to appeal their death sentences before Egypt's highest court, the Court of Cassation.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.