Sean Gallup/Getty Images(CAIRO) — Former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi died on Monday after collapsing during a court hearing, Egyptian state television reported.
Morsi was an Islamist who became Egypt’s first democratically-elected president in 2012. The country’s military ousted him in 2013.
Morsi, 67, was being tried on espionage charges in Egypt.
He addressed the court Monday before falling into a coma after the session concluded, state television said. He was then pronounced dead.
A senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi came to power after winning Egypt’s first democratic elections in 2012. His tenure lasted for just a year after the military ousted him following massive protests against his rule.
The Brotherhood was then outlawed and Morsi and most of its senior leaders were imprisoned. The former president received multiple prison sentences on various charges, including killing protesters.
“Dad, with God we meet,” Ahmed Mohamed Morsi, his son, wrote on his Facebook page.
Former defense minister Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, who led the military ouster of Morsi, was elected president in 2014. He launched a crackdown on the Brotherhood, which the state often accuses of carrying out attacks on security forces.
The Brotherhood denies resorting to violence, saying it’s committed to peaceful activism.
Rights groups have repeatedly criticized the conditions of Morsi’s detention as he was largely held incommunicado. His family allegedly was denied access to him.
In June 2017, his family told Human Rights Watch he had “fainted twice and experienced a diabetic coma.” Egyptian authorities insisted he was given proper medical treatment.
Copyright © 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.