Below is the full text of the press statement from ITN Solicitors,the legal representatives of the E...

1. International legal team urges Security Council's
intervention to halt violations
Below is
the full text of the press statement from ITN Solicitors,the legal representatives of the Egyptian
Freedom and Justice party.
President Mohammed Morsi was sentenced to death today (16 May) along with over 100 other
prisoners who have been prosecuted following the military's coup in 2013.
The trial and sentencing of hundreds of political prisoners has drawn huge criticism from legal
groups across the world. The sentences have been condemned as politically motivated and intended
to repress democratic opposition movements. Concerns about the imposition of mass death
sentences in Egypt have gathered pace internationally. Leading human rights' organisations, such as
Reprieve, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty have voiced their concerns about the use of death
penalties.
International law specialist, Rodney Dixon QC, and legal advisor to President Morsi's Freedom and
Justice Party said, "Everything must be done to overturn this shocking injustice. The military regime
must not be allowed to execute the first democratically elected President of Egypt. We have already
brought the use of mass death penalties in Egypt to the attention of the African Commission of
Human and Peoples' Rights and will now make immediate representations to the United Nations to
seek intervention to prevent the death sentence being carried out."
Dr. Mohammed Morsi became the first democratically elected President of Egypt following a popular
revolution, which saw the overthrow of the military regime, which had ruled Egypt for decades. Dr.
Morsi's democratic Presidency was short lived as the former general and now President Abdel
Fattah el Sisi led a military coup, which forcibly removed and detained President Morsi's entire
administration. Since the coup Egypt has seen the killing of thousands of unarmed pro-democratic
protestors, the detention of thousands of political prisoners, widespread torture, banning of
opposition groups, suppression of free media
http://www.granit.unh.edu/resourcelibrary/giscontacts?ID=31295 and the banning of protests.

2. The most significant act of suppression is the blatant use of the legal system to prosecute political
opponents and sentence them to death, sometimes hundreds at time. The legal proceedings have
been widely criticised as not even coming close to standards expected from a criminal court let alone
where defendants are to be sentenced to death. Lawyers have complained that their clients, many
now sentenced to death, were not given the opportunity to consult them, consider any evidence or
even put forward a defence. Some hearings that involved hundreds of defendants lasted only one
hour.
Recent leaks from within the post coup government have provided evidence that the judiciary in
Egypt is subject to interference by the senior members of the current military backed government
government. The leaks, which have been verified by international experts as authentic, have
identified senior members of the government conspiring to fabricate evidence and manipulate the
court process in death penalty cases.
Tayab Ali, who advises President Morsi's international legal team, said "The sentencing to death of
President Morsi must be condemned by the international community. Egypt has blatantly
disregarded its obligations under the African Charter and international law. The execution of
Mahmoud Ramadan in March this year, despite the African Commission's orders to suspend his
death sentence, show that Egypt does not respect the rule of law. The international community
cannot continue to do business as usual with Egypt while its coup leaders sentence thousands to
death including Egypt's only ever democratically elected President. It is time that the UN Security
Council intervened in the very many international law violations being perpetrated by Egypt."
Also read:
Images from today's sentencing, by Anadolu Agency.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/18675-morsi-death-sentence-international--
egal-team-urges-security-councils-intervention-to-halt-violations