Egypt sentences ex-President Morsi, 19 others to 3 years in jail for insulting judiciary

A file photo dated 24 January 2016 shows Egyptians in Turkey holding portraits of Mohammed Morsi after he was overthrown in a military coup lead by Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi,[Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency]

A Cairo criminal court sentenced former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and 19 others to three years in prison on Saturday, and fined him 2 million Egyptian pounds ($112,700) on charges of insulting the judiciary.

Others tried by the court in the same case including leading Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah and lawmaker and television presenter Tawfik Okasha were instead given fines ranging from 30,000 to 1 million Egyptian pounds.

The verdicts can still be appealed.

Opinion: The danger posed to life of President Morsi

Morsi, democratically elected after Egypt’s 2011 revolution, was overthrown in mid-2013 by then-general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, now the president, through a military coup.

He was immediately arrested and is now serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted of inciting the killing of protesters during demonstrations in 2012 and a 25-year sentence for spying for Qatar.

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