US 'deeply troubled' over death sentence to Mohammed Morsi

Washington, June 17: President Barack Obama's administration said on Tuesday that it is "deeply troubled" by the death sentence handed down against deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, contending that it was politically motivated.

At his daily press conference, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the result of Morsi's trial is another example of a "politically motivated" sentence, and he expressed his unease over the judicial practices of the new Egyptian government.

"The US has repeatedly raised concerns about the detention and sentencing of a variety of political figures in Egypt," said Earnest, adding that "we are concerned that proceedings have been conducted in a way that is not only contrary to universal values but also damaging to (the) stability that all Egyptians deserve."

Specifically, the White House condemned the mass trials against opposition figures or critics of the regime and said it had conveyed those concerns to the government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The Criminal Court in Cairo on Tuesday confirmed the death sentences imposed on the former Egyptian president and almost 100 Islamists for planning his escape from a prison on the outskirts of Cairo during the 2011 revolution.

Judge Shaaban al-Shami issued his ruling in the case after receiving the non-binding opinion of Mufti Shauqi Alam, Egypt's top Muslim religious authority, regarding the provisional death sentences meted out a month ago.

Morsi was toppled by the Egyptian military in 2013 after coming to power in elections resulting from the popular revolution that two years before had put an end to the three-decade dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak.

IANS