CAIRO: An Egyptian court on Tuesday overturned death sentence handed down to deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.
According to reports, the court also ordered retrial in the case.
Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Morsi was overthrown through a military coup in July 2013 after having served just one year of a four-year term.
Following his removal his party, the Muslim Brotherhood, was also banned. A government crackdown on the movement, as well as other groups, has resulted in tens of thousands of arrests and mass trials.
Morsi was tried in an Egyptian court for several charges, including escaping prison during the 2011 uprising against then-president Hosni Mubarak. Morsi was also accused of sharing state secrets with foreign powers. His defence has argued that he was merely engaging all foreign entities within the limits that any head of state would.
He was given several sentences, including 20-year prison terms and the death penalty. He appealed those sentences, but has already had the 20-year term confirmed by an appellate court.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have argued that the trials carried out by the government of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who led the coup against Morsi, have been political in nature and violated the due process rights of thousands of Egyptians.
