Egypt’s Former President Mohamed Morsi Dies During Trial

Mohamed Morsi, former Egyptian President who was ousted by the military in 2013, has passed away in a Cairo Court after a final statement in his trial on espionage charges. His lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud said: “He spoke 7 minutes just before the trial session adjourned. A minute after, we saw fuss in the court glass box, we could hear the defendants screaming, Dr Morsi has fallen.” According to the lawyer, Morsi’s final statement was the verse of a poem: “My country is dear even if it oppressed me and my people are honourable even if they were unjust to me.” 

Morsi who served only one year in office had been sentenced to more than 45 years of jail in three different trials due to being suspected of leaking state secrets, for the torture of protesters against the government and for leading an outlawed group. He had been a senior member in the now-banned Islamist movement Muslim Brotherhood. The former President’s death has raised questions about his treatment in jail where he was in solitary confinement. He had health issues such as diabetes and kidney disease. He had not been allowed to meet his lawyers or family members. A report by British Parliamentarians in 2018 reported that his confinement “would constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” and that it “could meet the threshold for torture in accordance (with) Egyptian and International law.” They had said that his inadequate medical care “is likely to lead to premature death.”