Court sentences Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi to death

CAIRO: In major blow to Islamists, deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood chief Mohammed Badie and over 100 other members of the banned group were today sentenced to death by a court here in connection with a mass jail break in 2011.

The 63-year-old Morsi, who appeared in the Cairo Criminal Court in a caged dock wearing the blue uniform of convicts, was charged in the case with over 100 co-defendants, including Brotherhood leaders Badie, Mohamed Saad El-Katatni, Essam El-Erian, Mohamed El-Beltagy and Safwat Hegaz. The court sentenced Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Badie and 104 Muslim Brotherhood leaders to death in the case.

Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president, raised his fists in defiance when the judge read the verdict. Saturday’s capital punishment ruling against Morsi makes him the first president in Egypt’s history to face the possibility of death by hanging if court ratifies its initial decision on June 2 or he loses his projected appeal. The verdict in the case was referred to the Grand Mufti, who according to the Egyptian law must review all death sentences, however, his decision is not binding.