For Muslim brotherhood sins, Morsi bags 20-yr jail time

Former Egyptian president, Mohammed Morsi was on Tuesday sentenced to 20 years in prison by a court in that country for the role of his supporters, the Muslim Brotherhood, which led to the death of some protesters in December 2012.

Morsi supporters attacked opposition protesters outside the presidential palace, sparking clashes that killed at least 10 people. He still faces charges in two other trials.

Judge Ahmed Youssef dropped the murder charges against Morsi and said the sentence was instead linked to the “show of force” against protesters and unlawful detentions.

He also faces the possible death penalty in connection with two other trials, including one in which he is accused of leaking state secrets to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. He is also accused of escaping from prison during the widespread protests that eventually ousted Mubarak. Separate verdicts in those two cases are due on May 16.

Morsi, the country’s first freely elected president, took power after the 2011 overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. Morsi himself was ousted by the army in 2013 and put on trial as the new regime of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi launched a crackdown on the moderate Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.

Hundreds of Brotherhood members have since been sentenced to death and thousands more jailed, while the group issued a statement ahead of the verdict on Tuesday denouncing the judiciary – calling it a tool of repression – and calling for protests.

The Brotherhood called for “non-stop revolutionary marches and demonstrations” starting Tuesday in support of Morsi and demanding his reinstatement.

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