Court upholds 20-year-prison sentence against former president Mursi

Saturday 22-10-2016 03:10 PM

Former president Mohamed Mursi in court, Aswat Masriya

CAIRO, Oct 22 (Aswat Masriya) -  Egypt's Court of Cassation upheld on Saturday a 20 year sentence against former president Mohamed Mursi  and 12 other  Muslim Brotherhood leaders in case dubbed as presidential palace clashes.

The verdict is final and cannot be appealed. 

The defendants were convicted of detaining, torturing and inciting violence against protesters outside the Ittihadiya presidential palace during his tenure in December 2012. 

Back then, clashes erupted between Mursi supporters and anti-Mursi protesters outside the presidential palace in Cairo, leaving at least 10 killed.Protesters were holding a sit-in against a constitutional declaration issued by Mursi in November, criticised for giving him sweeping powers.

Since his ouster, Mursi was featured in several trials where he faced an array of charges including espionage charges, insulting the judiciary and escaping prison during the January 2011 Uprising.

Mursi, who became Egypt's president in June 2012 after the first democratic elections in the country, was eventually ousted at the hands of the military following mass protests against his rule, after a year in power.

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