Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's ex-leader, sentenced to death

An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced Former President of Egypt, Mohammed Morsi to death for a mass prison break in 2011. The Egyptian authorities had accused Mr. Morsi and over 100 other co-defendants of conspiring with Palestinian group (Hamas) and Lebanese group (Hezbollah) to break into prisons across Egypt in January 2011, facilitating the escape of Mr. Morsi and 20,000 others, CNN reports. According to the media outfit, the court ruled that the sentencing of Morsi and 105 others will be referred to the Grand Mufti, the highest religious authority in Egypt, for confirmation.

Some others sentenced to death alongside Morsi include, Mohamed El-Shater, deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood; Mohamed El-Beltagy, a former Muslim Brotherhood member of parliament; Ahmed Abdel Aty, a former presidential aide; and Emad Shahin, a political science professor now in the United States. The court will pronounce its final decision on June 2.