Egypt Court Postpones Morsi Death Sentence Confirmation

Local Editor

An Egyptian court postponed issuing a final ruling over a death sentence recommendation for former President Mohammad Morsi and other top Muslim Brotherhood leaders in a case related to a 2011 jail break.

The judge said the case was postponed to June 16.

The court last month sought the death penalty for Morsi after he and his fellow defendants, including top Brotherhood leader Mohammad Badie, were convicted for killing and kidnapping policemen, attacking police facilities and breaking out of jail during the uprising against then-president Hosni Mubarak.

Further, the ruling was referred at the time to Egypt's top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for a non-binding opinion.

Judge Shaaban al-Shami said the court received the mufti's opinion Tuesday morning and needed time to discuss it.

The court also postponed to June 16 issuing a final ruling in a separate case for Brotherhood leader Khairat al-Shater and 15 others for conspiring against Egypt.

Prior to the court announcement, Morsi was seen entering the cage wearing a blue suit and waving to the court.

However, Morsi can appeal the verdict. He had said the court was not legitimate, describing legal proceedings against him as part of a coup by former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in 2013.

Sisi, now president, said the Brotherhood posed a grave threat to national security. The group maintained it was committed to peaceful activism.

Late Monday, Egyptian security services arrested two Muslim Brotherhood leaders hours after the government's announcement that security forces had disrupted a Brotherhood cell which authorities said was gathering intelligence about state institutions and sending it abroad to foreign parties.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team