Egyptian court overturns Mohamed Morsi’s death sentence

Ousted president to be given new trial for part in prison break during 2011 uprising

Ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi. File photograph: Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images
Ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi. File photograph: Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images

An Egyptian court has struck down a death sentence passed by a lower tribunal against an ousted Islamist president for his part in a mass prison break during the 2011 uprising.

The Court of Cassation's ruling means Mohamed Morsi will be given a new trial, alongside five other leaders of his now-banned Muslim Brotherhood group, whose death sentences in the same case were also quashed.

The court also struck down life sentences passed in the same case against 21 Brotherhood members.

Last month, a court upheld a 20-year sentence for Morsi on charges arising from the killing of protesters in December 2012. He was ousted by the military in 2013 after just one year in office.

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PA