Zimpapers Logo

Mohamed Morsi

A Cairo court has sentenced former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and 12 other defendants to 20 years in prison. Morsi was convicted yesterday of ordering the arrest and torture of protesters in clashes outside the presidential palace in December 2012. The court acquitted the former president of murder charges that could have seen him face the death penalty. Morsi also faces serious charges in three other cases, including an accusation that he passed intelligence to Qatar.

Egyptian journalist, Yehia Ghanem, said the Egyptian government was sending a message that it would not tolerate any opposition. “The whole thing was calculated politically from the start. It sends a message to Egyptians and the rest of the world that there’s no future for any civilian rule,” Ghanem said.

Morsi was deposed by his then military chief and Minister of Defence Abdel Fattah el-Sisi after mass protests against his rule in the summer of 2013.

Following the coup, the former president’s supporters launched a series of protests and sit-ins across the country culminating in a crackdown by security forces that left hundreds dead.

In the deadliest incident, at least 817 protesters were killed in Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya Square when security forces opened fire on a sit-in. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the killings likely amounted to “crimes against humanity”. – Al Jazeera