Former Egyptian’s President Mohammed Morsi Dies in Court

Posted by African Examiner Latest Headlines, North Africa Monday, June 17th, 2019

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Former Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi, ousted by the army in 2013, has died after fainting in a courtroom.

Morsi, 67, was a prominent member of the proscribed Muslim Brotherhood, He was in court for a hearing on charges of espionage.

Morsi was overthrown following mass protests a year after he took office as the country’s first democratically elected leader.

He had since remained in custody.

After his removal from power, Egyptian authorities launched a crackdown on his supporters and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Morsi was born in the village of El-Adwah in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya in 1951. He studied Engineering at Cairo University in the 1970s before moving to the US to complete a PhD.

He was chosen as the Muslim Brotherhood’s Presidential candidate for the 2012 election after the movement’s preferred choice was forced to pull out. After a narrow victory, he promised to head a government “for all Egyptians”.

However, critics complained he had failed to deliver during his turbulent year in office. They accused him of allowing members of Muslim Brotherhood the political scene and mishandling the economy.

On the evening of 3rd July 2013, the army suspended the constitution and announced the formation of a technocratic interim government ahead of new presidential elections.

Morsi, who denounced the announcement as a coup, was taken into custody by the army.