–
–
Former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi was sentenced to death today by an Egyptian court. The deposed leader had been convicted of aiding in a prison break during that country’s 2011 “revolution.”
So no, that prison break will not go down in history like the storming of the Bastille did.
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at [email protected].
Thank you.
Morsi himself was freed during the prison break. Prosecutors alleged that Hamas terrorists, who had infiltrated into Egypt through tunnels from the Gaza Strip, used the country’s domestic turmoil which transpired over an 18 day period in 2011 to affect the prison break. Morsi and 30 other Muslim Brotherhood leaders were helped to escape.
The Egyptian government says that as many as 20, 000 other inmates were able to flee because of the orchestrated prison breaks. These included a number of Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists.
Morsi was charged with the deaths of several prison guards who were killed during the escape. The Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader, Mohammed Badie, as well Islamic scholar, the Qatar-based Youssef al-Qaradawi, were also sentenced to death.
About 70 Palestinians were also sentenced to death for their complicity in the prison break. Hamas has of course condemned the sentences.
Former Morsi cabinet member Amr Darrag released a statement saying, “Today will be remembered as one of the darkest days in Egypt’s history.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also condemned the sentences.
Morsi is already serving a twenty year prison sentence for his part in the killing of protestors outside of his presidential palace in 2012. Egypt’s military eventually deposed Morsi in a coup in July 2014. It enacted the coup because Morsi was attempting to do in Egypt what The Ayatollah succeed in doing in Iran after that nation’s revolution in 1979.
Before the sentence can be final, Egypt’s Grand Mufti, its highest religious authority, must first issue a ruling on whether he supports it, however. But this ruling is not binding on the government.
Meanwhile, AP has reported on a terrorist attack in the Sinai which it says was in response to the sentencing of Morsi. Three Egyptian judges and their driver were gunned down by unknown assailants in the northern Sinai town of al-Arish.
