Who is morsi

Mohammed Morsi was Egypt's first democratically elected president, but lasted only one year in power before being ousted by the military on 3 July The military's move followed days of mass anti-government protests and Morsi's rejection of an ultimatum from the generals to resolve Egypt's worst political crisis since Hosni Mubarak was deposed in Four months after he was toppled, Morsi went on trial alongside 14 senior figures from the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement, accused of inciting his supporters to murder a journalist and two opposition protesters, and ordering the torture and unlawful detention of others.

The charges related to clashes between opposition protesters and Muslim Brotherhood supporters outside the Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo in December At the first hearing, he shouted from the dock that he was the victim of a "military coup" and rejected the authority of the courts to try him.

He was acquitted of murder but jailed for 20 years for ordering the torture and detention of protesters. Morsi subsequently faced a raft of other charges, and was sentenced to death, although the conviction was overturned.

He was on trial for espionage when he died in court on 17 June After returning to Egypt he became head of the engineering department at Zagazig University. He rose through the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood and served as an independent in the movement's parliamentary bloc from to He won As president, Sisi has overseen an extensive crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and anyone suspected of supporting the group, which Egypt now considers a terrorist organisation.

Morsi was arrested after the coup and has faced trial on three separate counts of leaking state secrets to Qatar, killing protesters during a sit-in outside the presidential palace, and spying for Hamas. Repression was intensifying, and political space was closing years after the brief promise of the first Arab Spring in and Members of the Muslim Brotherhood seemed deflated but not necessarily in despair. They were playing the long game, which is what the Brotherhood always preferred to play. To be tempted by power, on the other hand, led them, and ultimately Morsi himself, into a series of missteps and miscalculations.

The campaign for president in the spring of took place in a chaotic, uncertain Egypt. In one coordinated show of strength, they held 24 simultaneous mass rallies across the country in a single day. At one rally, I asked a young Brotherhood activist if he was enthusiastic about Morsi.

He smiled and then laughed. By Michael E. It was easy to dismiss Morsi then, and it will be easy to dismiss him now, as a footnote in history. But the brief 12 months in which he found himself in power was an unusual time for Egypt.

Morsi was incompetent and polarizing, and managed to alienate nearly everyone outside the Brotherhood. Six years after the coup that overthrew Morsi, many Egyptians continue to perceive the current regime as illegitimate. By choosing to bury him in the dead of night, the regime has only succeeded in shining a light on the enduring tragedy of a nation. Abdullah Al-Arian. Published On 19 Jun More from Author. Most Read.