CAIRO: Former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and 16 others, including Former Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badei, were sentenced to life in prison over charges of spying with foreign organizations.
The Brotherhood Deputy Supreme Guide Khairat al-Shater, and Brotherhood leaders Mohamed al-Beltagy and Ahmed Abdel Atty were sentenced to death over the said charges. Three convicts attended the hearing at Cairo Criminal Court.
The court, presided by Judge Shabaan el-Sahmy, issued death sentences to 13 other defendants tried in absentia Tuesday.
According to investigations stated during the Tuesday session, the convicts collaborated with Gaza-based Hamas Movement and members from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to “destabilize Egypt’s security.”
Two other convicts received sentences of seven years in prison in the same trial; meanwhile, the charges have been dropped for Brotherhood member Farid Ismail due to his death in prison.
On May 16, the court referred death sentences given to 16 defendants in the case to the Grand Mufti and set June 2 to pronounce the ruling; however, the ruling was adjourned to Tuesday. The first session of the trial was held on Feb. 16, 2014.
The same court will issue its rulings concerning death sentences handed down to to Morsi and 105 other defendants over charges of prison break during the 2011 uprising.