CAIRO
Fugitive supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, who have been condemned to death by an Egyptian court on Monday, have vowed to continue their struggle against what they describe as the "military coup" in Egypt.
"These verdicts are valueless," Gamal Sayed told Anadolu Agency from an undisclosed location.
Sayed – along with 682 defendants, including Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie – was referred by a court in the central Minya province to the mufti, Egypt's top religious official, to consider possible death sentences against them.
The court also sentenced 37 Morsi supporters to death and handed 491 others life sentences on violence charges.
All 1,211 defendants are tried on charges of attacking police stations and involvement in acts of violence in Minya.
Sayed denied the charges against him, insisting that he was not in Minya when the violence took place.
The defiant pro-democracy supporter said that he would continue to join "anti-coup" activities in Egypt until "legitimacy is restored".
Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected leader, was ousted by the military last July – after only one year in office – following massive protests against his presidency.
Supporters describe Morsi's ouster as a "military coup" and call for his reinstatement to power.
Rida Mohamed, another defendant in the same case, described the verdicts as "absurd".
"These are politicized verdicts," Mohamed told AA from an undisclosed location, going on to describe the rulings as a brazen violation of law.
"This has nothing to do with the Muslim Brotherhood [the group from which Morsi hails]," Mohamed said. "It targets those who oppose the coup and the counter revolution."
Mohamed said that the verdicts "prove that the current regime seeks to take revenge from whoever opposes authorities or defends president Morsi".
Mohamed Abdel-Hamid, another condemned defendant, denied the alleged violence charges against him.
"God only knows that we have nothing to do with this crime," Abdel-Hamid told AA.
"Our names were only included in the case on the background of political, not criminal, disputes," he added.
By Islam Mosaad
englishnews@aa.com.tr
