Ousted Egyptian president barred family visits since 2013 arrest

Ousted Egyptian president barred family visits since 2013 arrest
Morsi's family have spoken out against the Egyptian government's decision to effectively ban them visitation rights over the three years since the ex-president was detained following a military coup.
2 min read
06 June, 2016
Authorities have arrested thousands of Muslim Brotherhood leaders and members since the coup [Getty]

The family of ousted Egyptian president Mohammad Morsi have complained that they have been prohibited from visiting the former head-of-state in prison since he was arrested in 2013.

Morsi's son Usama said on Sunday that his family has been barred visitation rights to the senior Muslim Brotherhood leader, who won the country's first free election in 2012, over the past three years of his detention.

"This is the fourth Ramadan since the military coup that President Morsi has been in prison. To the best of our knowledge, the President is the only detainee who has been completely banned from family visits," Usama wrote on Facebook.

He said the only times the former president's immediate family members were allowed to see him was on 7 November 2013 and that he was permitted to see him briefly four times in January 2015.

"We know nothing about his access to food, his place of incarceration, the conditions of his detention or health. We are not allowed to provide him with clothes or any personal belongings."

"The dozens of official requests for family visits we have submitted have been ignored. Family visitations for prisoners are an inalienable right guaranteed by all constitutions, law and justice systems around the globe," he added.

     
      Morsi's death sentence has been called a 'charade' [Getty]

Morsi was ousted in June 2013 by a military coup led by general-turned-president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Sisi has since run an ultra-authoritarian regime that has violently suppressed all opposition since toppling the former Islamist president.

Authorities have arrested thousands of Muslim Brotherhood leaders and members, including Morsi, and sentenced them to life in prison or death in mass trials.

Local media reported this week that the Grand Mufti of Egypt has endorsed Morsi's death sentence.

In Egypt, all death sentences must be endorsed by government's leading religious authority before they are implemented.

Amnesty International has denounced Morsi's death sentence as "a charade based on null and void procedures."

A court sentenced 187 Morsi supporters to life in prison this week on various charges, including the storming of a police station in the southern province of Minya in 2013.