Egypt's deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi waves from inside the defendants cage during his trial at the police academy in Cairo last year. Picture: AFP
AN EGYPTIAN appeals court has upheld a 20-year sentence for ousted president Mohamed Morsi, the first final ruling in a string of trials for the deposed Islamist leader.
The Court of Cassation on Saturday also upheld sentences against eight of his co-defendants, including seven who received the same prison term and one who was sentenced to 10 years in prison, a judicial official said.
Morsi had been convicted in April 2015 of involvement in deadly clashes outside the presidential palace during his year in power.
Supporters of Mohamed Morsi chant slogans on the anniversary of the 2011 uprising in Cairo. Picture: Hesham Elkhoshny/APSource:AP
His supporters and protesters had clashed after he issued a decree that placed his decisions beyond judicial review, sparking anger that culminated in mass protests against him in June and July 2013.
The military deposed him on July 3 that year, and he has faced several trials since.
His lawyers are appealing a death sentence in one of his trials, on charges of participating in prison breaks and violence against policemen during the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime president Hosni Mubarak.
Mohamed Morsi while in power in 2012. Picture: Olivier Hoslet/EPASource:Supplied
Egypt’s first freely elected civilian president, Morsi came to power after Mubarak’s overthrow.
Morsi’s lawyer, Abdelmoneim Abdel Maqsud, said none of the defendants attended Saturday’s court session, with only the lawyers present.
Four other co-defendants were initially sentenced in absentia and could not appeal the ruling.
Amnesty International denounced the initial trial as a “travesty of justice”. Morsi was toppled by then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi following mass street protests.
Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood has been black-listed and targeted in a crackdown that has killed hundreds of his supporters and jailed thousands.
Two veiled Egyptian women, supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi, sit in front of police in Cairo in 2013. Picture: AFPSource:AFP