Morsi’s lawyers appeal death sentence

AUGUST 16, 2015 : XINHUA
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The defense team of Egypt’s ousted President Mohamed Morsi
appealed Saturday against a death sentence and a prison term
handed down to the Islamist former leader, official MENA news
agency reported.
Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Morsi to death in mid-June over
charges of participating in a 2011 jailbreak during mass protests
that toppled long-time President Hosni Mubarak.
The court also handed over 100 other Brotherhood members
and supporters, mostly in absentia, sentences varying from two-
year jail terms to execution.
Besides Morsi, the death sentences included the Brotherhood’s
top chief Mohamed Badie and other four leading group figures.
The Islamist lawyers also filed appeals against the death
sentences and prison terms related to an espionage case in
which Morsi was sentenced to 25 years in jail and 35 others
were handed sentences varying from execution to seven-year
imprisonment.
The defense team presented 180 reasons for challenging the
previous convictions in both the jailbreak and espionage cases.
Morsi was removed by the military in early July 2013 in
response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his
currently-outlawed Brotherhood group.
Crackdown on Morsi’s loyalists since August 14, 2013 left more
than 1,000 dead and thousands more jailed. The Brotherhood
was blacklisted as a “terrorist” organization.
Meanwhile, anti-government terrorist attacks since then have
left hundreds of police and army men dead, with “Sinai State,” a
Sinai-based militant group affiliated with the regional Islamic
State (IS) militant group, claiming responsibility for most of
them.