Ousted Egyptian President Morsi Given 40 Year Sentence for Espionage

A court in Egypt has sentenced to death two Al-Jazeera journalists, during the trial of the country’s former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Qatar rejected the verdict by an Egyptian court in a spy case linking ousted president Mohamed Morsi to passing state secrets to Doha.

Morsi, who was backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, was overthrown by the military in July 2013 after mass protests a year after he took office.

Prosecutors accuse Morsi and 10 co-defendants of leaking “classified documents” to Qatar.

Muslim Brotherhood activities have been banned across the country and thousands of their supporters have been arrested on various charges.

The three other defendants sentenced to death were identified as documentary producer Ahmed Afify, EgyptAir cabin crew member Mohammed Keilany and academic Ahmed Ismail.

Saturday’s verdicts, which can be appealed, have reignited tensions between the two countries.

Morsi served as the fifth president of Egypt from June 30, 2012 to July 3, 2013. Hundreds of other Muslim Brotherhood members were also sentenced for life in various cases.

Six defendants in the trial received death sentences, including two al-Jazeera journalists tried in absentia. Cairo also maintains that Al-Jazeera’s news coverage of Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East is biased in favour of militant Islamic groups.

Egypt’s former President Mohamed Mursi has been given another life sentence after a court in Cairo found him guilty of espionage and leaking state secrets.

The case involved a total of 11 defendants, of whom seven, including Morsi, are in custody.

Several Al Jazeera journalists have been detained in recent years, including Mohamed Fahmy, and Baher Mohamed, who were jailed for “spreading false news” but later pardoned.

Amnesty International condemned the court’s decisions in a statement, saying that death sentences should be removed, as well as “ludicrous charges against journalists”.

Senior leaders in the Muslim Brotherhood and their followers have been sentenced to death in different cases since military leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi overthrew Morsi’s government. “Spies are usually foreigners, these are Egyptians who betrayed the trust”, added the Judge.

Egyptian-born Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed were pardoned past year by President Abdel Fattah al Sisi, while Australian reporter Peter Greste was deported.