Former president Mohammed Morsi jailed for insulting Egyptian judiciary

Several defendants accused of making statements 'inciting hatred' that were made public

Mohamed Morsi (Getty)

An Egyptian court has convicted former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and 18 others of insulting the judiciary, sentencing them to three years in prison in a court session aired on TV.

The case in Cairo involved a total of 24 defendants, five of whom, including prominent rights activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah and political analyst Amr Hamzawy, were fined 30,000 Egyptian pounds each (£1,250).

Mr Abdel-Fattah is serving a five-year sentence for taking part in an illegal protest in 2013. Mr Hamzawy lives in exile.

All the defendants are accused of insulting the judiciary by making statements that were made public either on TV, radio, social media or in publications that the court found to be inciting and expressing hatred toward the court and the judiciary.

The court also ordered Mr Morsi to pay one million Egyptian pounds (£41,615) as compensation to one of the judges, and told 22 of the defendants to pay one million Egyptian pounds each to a powerful union of judges known as the “Judges Club”, state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported.

The verdict can be appealed.

Mr Abdel-Fattah is an outspoken blogger and leader of the 2011 uprising that toppled long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak. He has been in and out of prison in the years since Mr Mubarak’s ousting.

A software engineer by profession, he also campaigned against the policies of the military council that ruled Egypt for nearly 17 months following Mr Mubarak’s departure.

Mr Abdel-Fattah also opposed Mr Morsi’s rule, and that of general-turned-president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who led Mr Morsi’s overthrow in 2013 following mass protests against his one-year divisive rule.

Since he was ousted, Mr Morsi has faced trial on a host of charges, including espionage and conspiring with foreign groups.

The former president, who hailed from the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, is serving a life sentence – 25 years – over accusations of spying for Qatar. Earlier, he was handed a 20-year sentence on charges arising from the killing of protesters in December 2012.

Following Mr Morsi’s overthrow, Egyptian authorities launched a severe crackdown on Islamists, jailing thousands of them as well as secular and liberal activists.

The government has also banned all unauthorised demonstrations under a law adopted in late 2013.

Associated Press