Egyptian authorities have refused to allow former president Mohamed Morsi to be buried at his family’s cemetery, his son Abdullah Mohamed Morsi said on Monday.
In an interview with Reuters, Abdullahi also said that the family did not know the location of his body and that their contact with the authorities was through the family’s lawyers.
Mossi had just addressed the court, speaking from the glass cage he was kept in during sessions and warning that he had “many secrets” he could reveal, when he collapsed and died.
A judicial official who did not want to be named said Morsi collapsed a few minutes afterward in the cage, about which he had constantly complained about. He was suspected to have died of a sudden heart attack.
The judicial official said Morsi had asked to speak to the court during Monday’s session. The judge permitted it, and Morsi gave a speech saying he had “many secrets” that, if he told them, he would be released, but he added that he wasn’t telling them because it would harm Egypt’s national security.
Madour, the defense lawyer, said Morsi spoke for around five minutes before collapsing inside the cage.
“He was very calm and organised. He summarised our argument in three to five minutes. He insisted on a special tribunal as he is the president of the republic,” Madour said.
The Islamic Brotherhood has accused the government of “assassinating” Morsi through years of poor prison conditions during which he was often kept in solitary and barred from visits. Egypt’s chief prosecutor said a team of forensic experts would examine Morsi’s body to determine the cause of his death.
In his final comments on Monday, Morsi, 67, continued to insist he was Egypt’s legitimate president, demanding a special tribunal, one of his defense lawyers, Kamel Madour told the Associated Press.
State TV said later Morsi died before he could be taken to the hospital.
It was a dramatic end for a figure who was central in the twists and turns taken by Egypt since its “revolution” — the pro-democracy uprising that in 2011 ousted the country’s longtime authoritarian leader, Hosni Mubarak. (Reuters)
