A U.S.-based Egyptian advocacy group on Tuesday slammed Egypt's judicial system for making a "political decision" in handing down a death sentence for the country's first democratically elected president.
Egyptian Americans for Democracy and Human Rights (EADHR) president, Akram Alzand, argued that the court's decision was politically motivated, "the trial was not fair," he said.
"It was a political statement and read by some sort of so-called judge," he said, adding that "we know that the judge and court has been established specifically to prosecute Mohamed Morsi.
"I love my country and am worried about Egypt. The court's decision is killing any potential for democratic reform in my country," he added.
Morsi was sentenced on charges related to a mass jailbreak in 2011 during demonstrations that ousted then-President Hosni Mubarak.
In a separate trial in April, Morsi and 12 co-defendants were sentenced to 20 years in prison, each on charges of mobilizing supporters to "intimidate, detain and torture" dozens of anti-Morsi protesters during clashes outside eastern Cairo's Ittihadiya presidential palace in December 2012.
The court on Tuesday also sentenced five Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including the group’s head, Mohamed Badie, to death for participating in the jailbreak.
Ninety-four other co-defendants were also sentenced to the gallows, in absentia, on similar charges, including prominent Muslim scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi.
Earlier Tuesday, Morsi also received a life sentence, along with 16 others, for conspiring with Hamas and Hezbollah to commit “terrorists acts” inside Egypt.
EADHR is a grass-roots organization established to support and help Egypt on its path to democracy. According to the group, it seeks to monitor human rights in Egypt and to educate the American public and policy makers to support democratic reforms in word and action.
