EGYPT: MORSI SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS, AVOIDS DEATH PENALTY

Ousted president Mohamed Morsi

21 April 2015 :

An Egyptian court sentenced ousted President Mohamed Morsi to 20 years in jail on violence-related charges.
Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, was found guilty of inciting the murder of demonstrators outside Cairo's Ittihadiya presidential palace in 2012.
But the court acquitted Morsi of murder charges that could have seen him sentenced to death over the killings of a journalist and two protesters during clashes outside a presidential palace in 2012.
Tuesday's (April 21) verdict was the first against Morsi since his ouster and imprisonment by the army in mid-2013. Since then, he has been slapped with numerous criminal charges, which he and his supporters insist are politically motivated.
Although a total of 11 people – including eight Morsi supporters – were killed in the violence, the trial only addresses the death of one reporter and two anti-Morsi demonstrators.
Two other defendants were sentenced to 10 years on the same charges.
Defence lawyers said Tuesday's verdict will be appealed.
 

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