Mohamed Morsi's death sentence has been upheld by an Egyptian court as punishment for the former president's actions during the 2011 uprising.
The court consulted with Egypt's grand mufti, the government's interpreter of Islamic law, before
making its ruling on Tuesday, Al Jazeera reported. The court earlier sentenced Morsi, the former Muslim Brotherhood leader who was later the country's first democratically elected president, to life in prison on charges that he spied for Hamas, Shia Hezbollah, and Iran, the news agency noted. The sentence is also for his part in reportedly plotting jailbreaks and attacks on police during the uprising.
Muslim Brotherhood Freedom and Justice Party spokesman Nader Oman, located in Istanbul, told Al Jazeera that the group was stunned that the court upheld the sentences.
"I'm surprised because the charges are groundless and there is no chance for any of the defendants to defend themselves," Oman said. "The Muslim Brotherhood is an organization that has gone on for more than 80 years. Imprisoning our leaders will not stop us from fighting."
Morsi served a year in office, according to Agence France-Presse, before he was toppled from power in July 2013 by Egyptian army chief and current president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
The former Egyptian president defended himself during his espionage trial with 35 other people.
"I am the president, and I have not been stripped of this title," Morsi said in court during a two-hour appearance, according to AFP. "On 3 July (2013), I was surprised by military chiefs suspending the constitution and toppling the president: if this is not a coup, then what is?"
Many of Morsi's supporters charged that the trials and sentences were meant to give legal cover for the coup even though they are based on
little evidence, according to the BBC News.
H. A. Hellyer, of the Brookings Centre for Middle East Policy, told the BBC News that he doubts that Mori will ever be executed because it would "represent an escalation by the Egyptian authorities that they do not appear willing to engage in."