CAIRO: Egypt’s Islamist ex-president Mohamed Morsi was buried in a small family ceremony early on Tuesday a day after he suffered a fatal heart attack in court, his sons said, as supporters posted messages of grief and anger.
The first democratically elected head of state in Egypt’s modern history, who was deposed by the army in 2013, was laid to rest in Cairo next to the graves of other leaders of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood, Abdullah Mohamed Mursi told Reuters.
The Muslim Brotherhood has described Morsi’s death as a “full-fledged murder” and called for mass gatherings to mark his passing. Egyptian officials have denied accusations that his health was neglected.
Life appeared normal in Egypt’s capital, where authorities have cracked down on Islamists and other opponents since Mursi’s overthrow. Egyptian media, which is tightly controlled, gave the news little attention – only one newspaper, the privately owned Al-Masry Al-Youm, mentioned him on its front page.
But hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members took to the streets of Turkey’s capital and Istanbul, some of them blaming Cairo authorities for the death.
Other former allies of Morsi and opponents of Egypt’s current president, former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, expressed their condolences on social media, some condemning the conditions in which Mursi had been held.
Mursi died on Monday after collapsing in a Cairo court while on trial on espionage charges, authorities and a medical source said. The 67-year-old had been in jail since being toppled after barely a year in power, following mass protests against his rule.
Mursi had been sentenced to more than 40 years in prison in separate trials, including for leading an outlawed group, spying for foreign country and terrorism.
He and other imprisoned Brotherhood leaders have rejected the rulings and denounced the trials as politically motivated to justify Mursi’s overthrow.