Court postpones final verdict for Morsi, over 100 others in prison break, espionage cases

Cairo Criminal Court postponed its verdict in the cases against Mohamed Morsi and over 100 others relating to espionage and prison break, setting a new date of June 16 to make a final decision. 

The judge said he had received the Mufti's recommendations and needed more time to deliberate on them. 

Journalists attending the session reported that the defendants arrived at the court around 10 am, raising the four-fingered Rabea salute and chanting “down with military rule.” Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie was dressed in red, as he was sentenced to death in multiple other cases, while Morsi was dressed in blue, as he’s serving a 20-year prison sentence in the "Presidential Palace clashes" case.

On May 16, Cairo Criminal Court referred Morsi’s papers, along with several leading Muslim Brotherhood figures, to the Grand Mufti for review, in two cases relating to the 2011 prison escapes and espionage.

In the case of the 2011 escape from Wadi Natroun Prison, the court provisionally sentenced Morsi and over one hundred other defendants to death, including the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie, his deputy Mahmoud Ezzat, former parliamentary speaker and Brotherhood Guidance Bureau members Mohamed al-Beltagy, Essam al-Erian and Saad al-Husseiny.

They were all charged with storming prisons, assisting the escape of convicts and the looting of weapons, as well as murder and the attempted murder of police officers, among other charges.

According to the prosecution, the escape, which happened during the security void in the early days of the 2011 revolution, also involved members of Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah groups.

In a telephone interview aired by Al Jazeera after the prison break, Morsi said civilians had stormed the prison and that he and other Brotherhood detainees had stayed at the prison and were waiting to be told what they should do next by officials.

Hamas issued a statement in which they said some of the defendants sentenced for the prison escape were martyred before the revolution erupted in Egypt, like Tayseer Abu Seneima and Hossam al-Sanea, or were detained in Israeli prisons, like Hassan Salama, who has reportedly been in prison for 19 years.

Morsi also received a provisional death sentence, along with 15 Brotherhood members, in the case relating to espionage with Qatar, Hamas and Iran's revolutionary guard. This ruling was also sent to the Mufti for review.

The defendants face charges of leaking sensitive intelligence reports and military information to Qatari authorities, with the help of a Qatari officer and Al Jazeera.

The court’s decision was met with widespread international criticism. Amnesty International called the trial a “charade,” adding that “condemning Mohamed Morsi to death after more grossly unfair trials shows a complete disregard for human rights.”

Head of the German Parliament Norbert Lammert canceled a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi scheduled for early June, due to concerns regarding “the human rights situation in Egypt,” citing “a shocking number of death sentences, including the death sentence against former head of the Egyptian Parliament Saad al-Katatny.”

Moreover, The European Union called the penalty “cruel and inhumane … stemming from a flawed trial.”

In April, Morsi was sentenced to 20 years in prison for ordering the arrest and torture of demonstrators outside the Presidential Palace in December 2012 clashes.

Morsi was ousted on July 3, 2013, by a military-backed interim government following mass protests against his presidency.