Egypt's former President Mohamed Morsi died in a kangaroo court Monday (June 17).
The public prosecutor said the 67-year-old Morsi collapsed in a defendants' cage in the courtroom and was pronounced dead in hospital.
Morsi had a
history of health issues, including
There have been various reports over the years that Morsi had been mistreated and tortured in jail, with activists saying on Monday his death should be seen in context of the Egyptian authorities' systematic isolation and mistreatment of political detainees.
"The government of Egypt today bears responsibility for his death, given their failure to provide him with adequate medical care or basic prisoner rights," Human Rights Watch said in a statement to Al Jazeera.
Independent Detention Review Panel
Last year, a report by three British members of parliament, under the Independent Detention Review Panel, warned that the lack of medical treatment could result in Morsi's "premature death".
In a statement released after Morsi's death, Crispin Blunt, the panel's chairman, said his death in custody was representative of Egypt's inability to treat prisoners in accordance with both Egyptian and international law.
"The Egyptian government has a duty to explain his unfortunate death and there must be proper accountability for his treatment in custody. We found culpability for torture rests not only with direct perpetrators but those who are responsible for or acquiesce in it," he said in a statement.
"The only step now is a reputable independent international investigation."
Solitary confinement
Throughout his imprisonment, Morsi was only allowed three visits from his family.
The first was in November 2013, and the second, which only his wife and daughter were allowed to see him, was in June 2017.
The final visit where his entire family was permitted to see him in the presence of security forces was in September 2018.
The former president's son, Abdullah Mohamed Morsi, told Reuters news agency that the family did not know the location of his body. He added that the authorities had refused to allow Morsi be buried at his family's cemetery.
Morsi, who was facing at least six trials, had been behind bars for nearly six years and was serving a 20-year prison sentence for a conviction arising from the killing of protesters during demonstrations in 2012. He was also serving a life sentence for espionage in a case related to the Gulf state of Qatar.
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