TheCable

An Egyptian court has sentenced Mohammed Morsi, former president of Egypt and leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, to 20 years in jail for ordering the arrest and torture of protesters during his rule.

Morsi was Egypt’s first freely-elected president, but protests began building less than a year into his rule when he issued a decree granting him far-reaching powers.

He was elected in 2011, after the revolution that brought an end to the 30-year-old regime of Hosni Mubarak but was removed by the military in 2013 and his sect banned while many of his supporters were arrested.

Tuesday’s verdict and sentence were issued during a brief hearing in a crowded courtroom in a police academy on the outskirts of Cairo.

It is the first verdict he has received since his ousting and is one of several trials he faces.

Amr Darrag, a senior Muslim Brotherhood figure, described the trial as a travesty of justice, “scripted and controlled by government”.

He also accused authorities of trying to pass “a life sentence for democracy in Egypt”.

The verdict may be appealed.

Morsi is currently being held at a high-security prison near Alexandria.