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Morsi death sentence a “lesson”: analyst

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A South African political analyst is not convinced that former Eqyptian President, Mohammed Morsi will be executed, saying it would be in the best interest of Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to be seen as compassionate and to pardon the Muslim Brotherhood leader. Morsi was sentenced to death on Saturday over a mass prison break in 2011. Morsi served as the fifth president of Egypt and was the first democratically elected president in the country.

Morsi was removed from power during a military coup. Following this coup he was imprisoned and various charges were laid against him, including murder of which he was acquitted in April this year.

Since Morsi was overthrown in 2013, the military have ruled Egypt. Democracy in the country has failed and the landscape of political and academic freedom in Egypt shifting dramatically.

The first conviction and sentencing of Morsi on Saturday is intended to bring closure to Egypt’s post-coup political turmoil.

“The message that the military wants to send out is that they will not tolerate any forms of defence,” Na’eem Jeenah, executive director for the Afro-Middle East Centre (AMEC) explained.

“Morsi epitomises defence in the country and the death sentence against him is supposed to be a lesson to everyone,” Jeenah added.

This scare tactic is being deployed by the military in order to curb protests, however it is not working. To kill Morsi will be to make him a martyr for the Muslim Brotherhood. There are already protests being held every week in Egypt.

“The message really is about intimidating the population so that the military may continue ruling the country,” Jeenah went further.

The military is trying to reconstitute an authoritarian, repressive security state and that entails suppressing any voice that disagrees with current military rule.

“As a political leader, Sisi has made a mess, the objective is to repress and suppress all kinds of defence within Egypt,” Mr Jeenah said.

Thus far Egypt has become a disaster with an economy that has become entirely dependent on gulf countries as well as Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, there is a civil war taking place in the Sinai region all which indicates that the current military government is failing to bring about positive change within Egypt.

“The whole court proceeding is an elaborate performance to sentence Morsi to a life imprisonment instead of killing him because by killing him (Morsi) they will make him a martyr for the Muslim Brotherhood,” Jeenah added.

Revolution has not only failed in Egypt, but also in other states that have been part of the Arab Spring which was supposed to be a new beginning for each country.

“The reverse rate in the Arab states have been quite severe,” Jeenah explained.

“Democracy can exist in the Middle East and will do well under a system that allows the population to make their own choice”.

The sentencing of Morsi now lays in the hands of the Grand Mufti that will decide whether the former president will actually be put to death on the charges that he has been found guilty of. VOC (Umarah Hartley)


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