Morsi's justice minister to be released in Egypt

The Egyptian judiciary decided Sunday to release the former justice minister who served in the Mohammed Morsi government, reports Anadolu Agency.

Prosecutors ruled former Justice Minister Ahmed Suleiman would be released on probation, his son Mohammed, told Anadolu Agency.

He said that the his father was held in Tora Prison in southern Cairo and would be transferred to his house where he would serve a 15-day home arrest sentence before prosecutors would reconsider his status.

Suleiman was arrested in December 2018 when the State Security Court (SSC) accused him of being a member of an illegal organisation, engaging in activities threatening national security and contacting anti-state elements.

Suleiman was appointed justice minister in May 2013 and was forced to resign following a coup July 3, 2013, that ousted Morsi, the first democratically elected president of Egypt. Morsi died in June 2019 while in custody.

Suleiman is known as a statesman who is critical of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Since Morsi’s ouster, Egypt cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood group, killing hundreds of its supporters during the violent dispersal of a sit-in, throwing thousands of its supporters in jail and labeling the group a terrorist organisation.