6 sentenced to death in trial of former Egyptian president

Six persons standing trail with the former Egyptian president, Mohammed Morsi have been sentenced to death.

#Egypt court recommends death for 6 defendants, but not #Morsi https://t.co/972PxUaGvH pic.twitter.com/j6WoxFfHS7

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) May 7, 2016

The sentence was delivered on Saturday at a session that was expected to deliver a final verdict for the trial of the deposed leader.

“The court decided to transfer the verdict to the mufti of the Egyptian Arab Republic, for his religious view on all the accused persons,” presiding Judge, Mohamed Sherine Fahmy said.

The next session will be on June 18, 2016. The court is then expected to either uphold or overturn the death sentences handed to the six co-accused persons. The judge is also expected to on that day, deliver the verdict for the remaining four co-accused and Mohammed Morsi.

Until then, the judge has asked that the accused remain in custody.

The verdict in the trial, the fourth for the former Egyptian leader, was originally expected on April 23 but was adjourned to May 7.

Morsi and his 10 co-accused, who are affiliated to the banned Muslim Brotherhood, are facing a charge of espionage for leaking classified documents relating to Egyptian national security and providing them to Qatari intelligence as well as Qatari news network, Al-Jazeera.

The trail has seen a total of 29 sessions so far, some of which have been held behind closed doors.

Morsi who was ousted by the military on July 3, 2013 following a mass protest against his rule on June 30, 2013 has already been tried for other offences.

In June 2015, he was given a life sentence on charges that he was spying for Palestinian group Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and Iran. The same court also upheld a death sentence against Morsi for breaking out of jail during the 2011 uprising.

In April 2015, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for inciting violence in the “Presidential Palace Clashes” case.

He is currently appealing all these sentences.

AFP, News Agencies