Egyptians mourn first democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi on third anniversary of death

Egyptians mourn first democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi on third anniversary of death
Egyptians have marked the third anniversary of the death of Egypt’s only democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, with a series of social media posts lamenting his passing.
3 min read
18 June, 2022
Mohammed Morsi died in an Egyptian courtroom in 2019 after years of medical neglect in prison [Getty]

Egyptians on Friday marked the third anniversary of the death of Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, with a series of social media posts lamenting his passing.

Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood who won Egypt’s only democratic presidential election to date in 2012, was overthrown in a military coup led by current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi just over one year after he assumed office.

He died in an Egyptian courtroom in 2019 from a heart attack at the age of 68, following years of medical neglect in prison.

Waleed Sharaby, a prominent Egyptian judge and opposition figure, wrote on Twitter, “On 17 June 2012, Mohammed Morsi’s first win in a polling station in the first round of the presidential election was announced. Thirteen candidates took part. On 17 June 2019, President Morsi was martyred in a courtroom which took away all his rights, even his right to life.

Mohannad Sabri, a researcher and author of Sinai: Egypt’s Linchpin, Gaza’s Lifeline, Israel’s Nightmare, said, “May God have mercy on former President Mohammed Morsi. He was killed unjustly in detention. Despite my differences with his [Muslim Brotherhood] organisation and his politics, his killing was a crime which can’t be forgiven and won’t go away.”

A tweet from the Egyptian Revolutionary Council’s account said, “On the third anniversary of President Mohammed Morsi’s martyrdom, we remember all the activists and heroes in prison and exile who remain true to their principles, travelling on this difficult road.

“We remind the Egyptian people that in Egypt there are men who do not accept humiliation and who won’t be bribed into giving up their country’s freedom and their people’s rights.”

Following the coup against Morsi, Sisi’s government arrested tens of thousands of coup opponents, abusing and torturing many of them in prison according to human rights groups.

Morsi’s son Ahmed Mohamed Morsi wrote on Twitter on Friday, “your memory does not leave us for a day, you are still in our hearts… you lived as a man and you left standing on your feet in your prison against the oppressors.”