Egypt’s deposed President Mohammed Morsi has been sentenced to 40 years in prison on charges of leaking secret state documents to Qatar. Two al-Jazeera journalists were sentenced to death in absentia at the same trial.
Former Egyptian president, Mohammed Morsi, was handed two further sentences in addition to earlier sentences against him. In a capital espionage case, he was given life imprisonment (25 years) and an additional 15 years, making it unlikely that he will leave prison in his lifetime, AFP reported.
Two al-Jazeera journalists, identified by the trial judge as news producer Alaa Omar Mohammed, a Jordanian citizen, and news editor Ibrahim Mohammed Hilal, were sentenced to death in absentia, accused of leaking Egypt’s secret state documents to Qatar. The death sentences can still be appealed.
Many people are hoping that governments will not respond to calls for the extradition of the two al-Jazeera journalists and have already called the proceedings a “shame trial”.
Al-Jazeera, meanwhile, said that the ruling was “unprecedented in the history of journalism in the world; it represents a stab in the back of the profession and freedom of expression worldwide”. Morsi has been sentenced to death in a separate trial for his alleged role in prison breaks and attacks on police stations during the 2011 uprising against Mubarak. He has also received a life sentence and a 20-year jail term in two other trials.
