Cairo, June 18— Egypt’s former President Mohammed Morsi, ousted by the military in 2013 after one year in office, collapsed in a courtroom and died on Monday (around 4:50 pm local time). News about his death spread like wildfire, leading to mourning among Muslims across the globe.
A top figure in the now-banned Islamist movement Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi had just addressed the court from a cage at a hearing on charges of espionage, the BBC reported.
Morsi, 67, had been in custody since he was removed following mass protests and a military coup.
The Muslim Brotherhood said the death was a “full-fledged murder” and called for crowds to gather at the funeral.
Activists and his family had long complained about his prison conditions, saying Morsi was not receiving treatment for serious health problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes, and was constantly being held under solitary confinement.
Morsi collapsed moments after addressing the court in Cairo at a hearing related to charges of espionage emanating from suspected contacts with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which had close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
He spoke for five minutes from a soundproof glass cage which officials said was designed to prevent him disrupting proceedings. The cause of death was not immediately confirmed but Egypt’s public prosecutor said an initial report showed no signs of recent injuries on the body.
Last month, his family said authorities had repeatedly denied access to him and that they knew little about his health conditions, a situation that “violated constitutions applied all over the world”.
In March last year, his youngest son, Abdullah, said officials were “doing this on purpose, since they want to see him dead ‘from natural causes’ as soon as possible”.
Morsi Buried in eastern Cairo
Egypt’s first democratically elected President Morsi was buried on Tuesday in eastern Cairo, one of his lawyers told AFP news agency. He had collapsed and died in court on Monday afternoon.
“He was buried in Medinat Nasr, in eastern Cairo, with his family present. The funeral prayer was said in Tora prison hospital” where he was declared dead on Monday, his lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maksoud said.
Reports say funeral prayers in absentia were held in different places across the world.
World Leaders React
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered his condolences in these words: “May Allah have mercy on our brother, our martyr Morsi.”
Pakistan’s Jamat e Islami, the country’s mainstream religious party, said the Muslim world has lost a true hero.
“Dr. Morsi stood tall in the face of all pressures aimed at forcing him to withdraw his struggle for fundamental rights of the people of Egypt and his support to Palestine,” JI chief Senator Siraj-ul- Haq said in a statement.
He announced that Jamat would hold funeral prayers in absentia for Morsi across Pakistan on Tuesday.
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director with the Human Rights Watch, said that Morsi’s death was “terrible but entirely predictable” given the government’s “failure to allow him adequate medical care, much fewer family visits.”
United Nations spokesman Dujarric offered condolences to the family of Mohamed Morsi and his supporters.
Qatari Emir, Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, offered condolences to Morsi’s family and the Egyptian people, and also expressed “deep sorrow” over his death.
India’s leading Muslim organization, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind said Morsi’s death “cannot be considered natural, rather it was a custodial murder.”
In a press statement on Tuesday, JIH President Syed Sadatullah Husaini said: “The legally elected President of the Egypt Dr. Morsi was forcibly ousted from power. His death cannot be considered natural, rather it was a custodial murder, the sole responsibility of which lies on the illegitimate Egyptian government and its self-proclaimed President and dictator Abdul Fattah Sisi.”
“The martyrdom of Dr. Morsi will strengthen the ‘Islamic Cause’ all over the world, Insha’Allah,” he said adding that “the Islamic world has lost a good leader in the death of Dr Morsi.”
— With Inputs From IANS
