Ex-Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi Slumps, Dies in Court

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Former President of Egypt, Mr Mohamed Morsi, has died in court, reports from the northern African country have said.

Mr Morsi was reported to have died on Monday after he slumped during a court session, where he is facing charges of espionage emanating from suspected contacts with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

Mr Morsi was serving a 20-year prison sentence for a conviction arising from the killing of protesters during demonstrations in 2012 and a life sentence for espionage in a case related to the Gulf state of Qatar.

According to a report, the former President “was speaking before the judge for 20 minutes then became very animated and fainted. He was quickly rushed to the hospital where he later died.”

The 67-year-old Egyptian leader was the country’s first democratically elected president in 2012 after the 2011 Arab Spring, which saw the end of President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.

However, he was then deposed following mass protests and a military coup in July 2013. He had served just one year of a four-year term, while the organisation to which he belonged, the Muslim Brotherhood, has since been outlawed.