On Monday, June 17, 2019, Egyptian television announced the death of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, the first civilian president elected in the Arab Republic of Egypt. The news came during his trial on charges of "espionage with the Palestinian Hamas movement," held at the Police Academy in the Tora Prison Complex.[1][2]State television reported in a breaking news report that Morsi, 68, had asked the presiding judge to speak, who granted him permission before suffering a heart attack that led to his immediate death.[1] His lawyer stated that he was given the floor to speak for seven minutes from inside a glass cage, concluding with the words, "My country is dear even if it oppressed me and my people are honourable even if they were unjust to me." He then collapsed a minute after the session was adjourned, amid screams from those around him and signs that he had died.[3]
More than an hour after the death of Mohamed Morsi, the Public Prosecution issued a statement about the details of the death of the deposed president, stating that "During the session and following the defense of the 2nd and 3rd defendants, the deceased demanded to speak. The court allowed him to do so and he spoke for five minutes after which the court was adjourned for deliberation." Then it added: "he fainted and fell to the ground and was immediately taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead."[4]
Detention
During his years of detention, unlike most prisoners in Egyptian jails, Morsi was denied food and medicine from his family, according to Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch . In addition to being held in solitary confinement, he was denied access to the media, letters, and other means of communication with the outside world. His wife and other family members were allowed to visit him only three times during his six years in prison.[5]
A report by the British Parliamentary Committee showed that the Egyptian authorities prevented Morsi from receiving appropriate medicine and food from outside the prison throughout his imprisonment, while this was permitted in other Egyptian prisons according to the committee's information. The committee indicated that Morsi explained during his trial session in November 2017 the details of the circumstances of his detention and their impact on his health, as follows:[6]
He is held in solitary confinement, deprived of any contact with anyone for 23 hours a day. He is in complete isolation, neither hearing anyone nor being heard by anyone. He is also deprived of books, newspapers, paper, pens, and radio.
His health deteriorated. He suffers from diabetes and took insulin. His blood sugar levels dropped while he slept, and he has experienced episodes of complete loss of consciousness. His vision has also deteriorated due to this condition. He said that a coma resulting from low blood sugar episodes can lead to death.
He does not eat the right food for his health condition.
He has been suffering from back and bone pain and was told that it is due to his advanced age and sleeping on the floor. He also has neck pain and has asked to see an orthopedic doctor, but his request has not been answered.
He suffers from jaw and gum disease.
He requested medical care through the court, which granted his request, but the prison authorities did not implement it.
In March 2018, a panel of British politicians and lawyers reviewing Morsi's treatment concluded that Morsi had received "inadequate medical care, particularly inadequate management of his diabetes and inadequate management of his liver disease." The group warned that failure to meet his care requirements could put Morsi's life at risk. In a statement issued after his death, Crispin Blunt, a British MP who chaired the panel, said: "Sadly, we have been proved right."[5]
Death
Egyptian TV statement
On the evening of 17 June 2019, Egyptian state television announced in a breaking news report that former President Mohamed Morsi died during his trial in the "espionage" case. It reported that Morsi had asked to speak during his trial and, after the session was adjourned, suffered a fainting spell, which resulted in his death.[7] State television later added that Morsi's body had been transferred to the hospital for "necessary measures."[8][9]
Public Prosecution statement
The Egyptian Public Prosecution published a two-page statement stating that former president Mohamed Morsi "arrived at the hospital dead after collapsing in court." It also added: "The apparent medical examination showed no recent apparent injuries to Morsi’s body." It also announced that it had seized all cameras in the courtroom and the defendants’ cage, and that it had assigned a higher forensic committee to prepare a report on the "cause of death."[10][11]
Morsi's lawyer's comment
According to CNN, Mohamed Morsi's lawyer, Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud, said that Morsi "spoke for seven minutes before the session was adjourned, and a minute later we saw a commotion inside the courtroom's glass cage, and we could hear the defendants shouting, 'Dr. Morsi has fallen.'" He continued, "We understood from the commotion that he had died. The defendants told us by making hand gestures that they had died. An hour later, I saw him being carried out on a stretcher around 4:30." He noted that the glass cage inside the courtroom isolates sound, saying, "But we were able to hear the sound because the defendants' screams were very loud."[12]
Burial
Mohamed Morsi was buried at dawn on Tuesday, June 18, 2019 local time in a cemetery in Nasr City, east of Cairo, in the presence of his family and lawyers, amidst a heavy security presence, according to what Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud, the lawyer of the late President Mohamed Morsi, told Anadolu Agency. His statements included the following:[13]
Morsi was buried in the cemetery of former Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Nasr City, east of Cairo.
Only me and his family attended, including Morsi's wife, two of his brothers, and his children, including his currently imprisoned son, Osama Morsi. The authorities allowed him to attend the funeral, while Morsi's supporters were unable to attend.
The family sat for about three hours in the Tora Prison Hospital, where Morsi's body lay, and attended the washing and funeral ceremonies. We prayed at dawn on Tuesday, then the funeral prayer was held over Morsi's body at the Tora Prison Mosque (south of Cairo), before a car carrying the body, accompanied by his wife and son, was transported to the cemetery east of the capital.
Only my family and I attended the funeral. Morsi was buried next to former Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohammed Mahdi Akef, who also died in September 2017 from an illness. Anadolu Agency quoted a source who spoke on condition of anonymity as saying: "The funeral ceremony lasted about an hour, and witnessed a heavy security presence, amidst a complete absence of Morsi’s supporters, due to the security circumstances, according to him."[13] Both of Morsi’s sons, Abdullah and Ahmed, posted on social media the following: "We washed his noble body at the Tora Prison Hospital and prayed over him inside the prison mosque. Only his family prayed over him. He was buried in the cemetery of the Muslim Brotherhood’s guides in Nasr City, as the security authorities refused to bury him in the family cemetery in Sharqia. To God we belong and to Him we shall return."[13]
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