Egyptian Court Confirms 20-Year-Prison Sentence against Mursi

Rasa - An Egyptian court confirmed a 20-year prison sentence against former president Mohamed Mursi Saturday, judicial sources told Reuters.

News ID: 424492

Date: 22 October 2016 - 22:03

RNA - It is the first final verdict against Mursi on charges arising from the killing of protesters during demonstrations in 2012.

Mursi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, faces charges in other cases including leaking secrets to Qatar, conspiring with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas to destabilize Egypt, and organizing a jailbreak during the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak.

Qatar had supported Mursi, who is in jail along with thousands of Brotherhood members, many of whom have been sentenced to death on separate charges.

Mursi and other Brotherhood leaders, as well as leading figures from the 2011 popular uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak are now in jail.

Relations between Qatar, a Persian Gulf Arab state, and Egypt have been icy since July 2013 when Egypt's then-army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi overthrew Mursi.

Sisi says the Brotherhood poses a serious threat to security despite the crackdown, which has weakened what was once Egypt's most organized political group.

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