Ousted Egyptian president Morsi sentenced to death

A Cairo court Saturday sentenced former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to death after his conviction in a 2011 jailbreak. Sentenced with him were 120 other defendants including  Muslim Brotherhood leader, Mohamed Badie, a former parliament speaker, Mohamed Saad El-Katatny and, in absentia, treasurer Khairat el-Shater and the radical TV preacher Yusouf Qaradawi, who is based in Qatar. The sentences were referred to the Grand Mufti for confirmation on June 1 before their execution. Morsi and his co-defendants were accused of collaborating with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and the Lebanese Shia group Hizballah in a mass jailbreak during the riots which overthrew President Hosni Mubarak.

Morsi was also charged with espionage and communicating with foreign elements to hinder Egypt’s national security, but was not sentenced to death on this charge. Muslim Brotherhood leaders Khairat El-Shater, Mohammed El-Beltagy and 14 others were found guilty and sentenced to death for leaking state secrets on Saturday.DEBKAfile adds:  As Egyptian president, Morsi and the Brotherhood established extensive ties with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and set up joint teams to create an Egyptian version of the Iranian Guards to offset the influence of the Egyptian army. Hamas aided the Brothers in this effort.

Morsi is already serving 20 years in connection with the killing of protesters in Cairo in Dec. 2012. The Sisi government has outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group.