Egypt’s first democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi was
buried in Cairo on Tuesday, his lawyer said, a day after he
collapsed in court and died.
Rights groups called for an independent probe into the detention
conditions and death of the Islamist, who was ousted in 2013 after
a year of divisive rule.
State TV said the 67-year-old’s death was due to a cardiac
arrest.
“He was buried in Medinat Nasr, in eastern Cairo, with his
family present,” said Abdel Moneim Abdel Maksoud, one of his
lawyer.
Morsi, also the country’s first civilian president, had appeared
“animated” during a hearing in a retrial over charges of
collaborating with foreign powers and militant groups, judicial and
security sources said.
“The court granted him his request to speak for five minutes… He
fell to the ground in the cage… and was transported immediately to
the hospital. A medical report found… no pulse or breathing,” said
the attorney general’s office.
“He arrived at the hospital dead at 4:50 pm exactly and there
were no new, visible injuries found on the body.”
Another of Morsi’s legal defence team described the moment he
received news of his death.
“We heard the banging on the glass cage from the rest of the
other inmates and them screaming loudly that Morsi had died,” the
lawyer, Osama El Helw, told AFP.
Since Morsi’s overthrow on July 3, 2013, his former defence
minister, now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has waged an ongoing
crackdown that has seen thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters
jailed and hundreds facing death sentences.
A judicial source said Morsi had fainted during a break in the
trial hearing.
The court officials “had just finished the session for the
espionage case and they informed the judge that he had fainted and
needed to be transported to a hospital where he later died”, he
told AFP.
Morsi last saw his family in September 2018. A month later, one
of his sons, Abdallah, was arrested.
Abdel Maksoud was the last member of his defence team to see the
former Islamist president, in November 2017.
The Brotherhood’s political wing — the Freedom and Justice Party
— accused Egyptian authorities of “deliberately killing him
slowly”.
They “put him in solitary confinement… they withheld medication
and gave him disgusting food… they did not grant him the most basic
human rights,” it said in a statement.
Rights group Amnesty International called on Egyptian
authorities to open “an impartial, thorough and transparent
investigation probe” into Morsi’s death and his detention
conditions.
Human Rights Watch echoed that demand, saying Morsi had suffered
years of “insufficient access to medical care”.
“The United Nations Human Rights Council… should establish an
investigation into ongoing gross violations of human rights in
Egypt, including widespread ill-treatment in prisons and Morsi’s
death,” it said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a strong ally of Morsi
and the Muslim Brotherhood, paid tribute to the “martyr”.
The Gaza-based Palestinian movement Hamas, originally an
offshoot of the Brotherhood, also hailed Morsi’s influence.
Iran’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi called
his death “sad and unfortunate” and said that “while respecting the
views of the great nation of Egypt, offers its condolences.”
Internationally he received some support, but in his homeland,
Morsi has a chequered legacy.
He spent just one turbulent year in office after the 2011
uprising, before being toppled by the military after millions took
to the streets demanding his resignation.
The Islamist leader has been in prison since his ouster, on
trial in several cases including for spying for Iran, Qatar and
militant groups such as Hamas.
Morsi was also accused of plotting terrorist acts.
He was sentenced to death in May 2015 for his role in jailbreaks
during the uprising that ousted his predecessor, longtime autocrat
Hosni Mubarak.
Following the news of his death, Egyptian television channels
went into feverish overdrive, labelling the Brotherhood a
“terrorist group” and playing a looping tagline: “The Brothers are
liars”.
A group of British parliamentarians in March 2018 warned that
his detention conditions had not met international standards and
could lead to his “premature death”.
Other Brotherhood leaders have also died in custody.
The years following Morsi’s overthrow have seen a surge in
bombings and shootings targeting security forces, particularly in
the restive northern Sinai Peninsula, now a stronghold of the
Islamic State group.
Morsi’s turbulent rule was marked by deep divisions in Egyptian
society, a crippling economic crisis and often-deadly opposition
protests.
His death comes days before Egypt hosts the Africa Cup of
Nations football tournament, starting Friday.
Authorities have been on high alert, announcing on Facebook
Wednesday that thousands of forces would be deployed to secure
venues.
NAN
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