Verdict on Morsi pushed to May 7
Ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi gestures during his new trial in Cairo on May 23, 2015. The prosecution charges that Morsi and 10 co-defendants leaked classified documents to Qatar. PHOTO | KHALED DESOUKI | AFP
What you need to know:
- He has already been sentenced in three separate trials to death, a life term and 20 years in prison.
- Morsi — the country’s first freely elected president — had barely finished his first year in office when the military overthrew and detained him in July 2013.
CAIRO, Saturday
An Egyptian court postponed its verdict and sentence in the trial of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, who is charged with spying for Qatar.
The head judge said the verdict was postponed “to May 7 to continue consultations,” in brief remarks aired on television.
If Morsi is convicted, it would be his fourth sentence. He has already been sentenced in three separate trials to death, a life term and 20 years in prison.
Qatar was one of Morsi’s main backers and Cairo accuses Doha of supporting the Islamist’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood movement.
Morsi — the country’s first freely elected president — had barely finished his first year in office when the military overthrew and detained him in July 2013.
At the time, it announced he would eventually be tried on vague charges of espionage and for a mass prison break during the 18-day revolt that overthrew Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
The prosecution charges that Morsi and 10 co-defendants leaked classified documents to Qatar.
The documents allegedly contained secrets on national security and were traded for $1 million.
In 2015, Morsi was sentenced to death over the prison breaks and attacks on police stations.
He had been detained with other Brotherhood leaders days after the protests started on January 25, 2011.
