Beryl Kessio
Rabat – The highest appeal court in Egypt has struck down a life sentence that was dealt to ousted president Mohammed Morsi today.
The Court of Cessation also ordered a retrial in the case against Morsi concerning charges of conspiring with foreign militant groups, including the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. However, no date has been set for the retrial.
Morsi–who was democratically elected after the 2011 revolution then overthrown by a military coup in 2013 and immediately arrested–had a death sentence overturned by the same court last week, nearly 17 months after the initial sentencing. The death sentence was for Morsi’s link to a prison break during the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the group to which Morsi belonged, has been labeled as a terrorist group by the government of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The Sisi government’s systematic crackdown on the Brotherhood has resulted in thousands of group members and leaders being jailed, killed, or put in self-imposed exile and has drawn criticism from international rights groups.
Although today’s ruling means Morsi is no longer under threat of execution, he will remain in jail on a separate espionage conviction, and will presumably stay in prison indefinitely.
