Egypt condemns UN call for independent probe into Morsi’s death
Egypt has rejected a call by the United Nations for an “independent” investigation into the death in court of the country’s first democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi, saying the world body is “politicizing” the death.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Tuesday called for an “independent and thorough” investigation into the sudden death of Morsi during a trial court session on Monday.
Morsi was buried at dawn a day later in the presence of his family members only, said his son Ahmed Morsi, in a burial that analysts believe fuels suspicions surrounding his death.
The OHCHR’s call angered Egypt, with the North African country’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez condemning it “in the strongest terms” on Wednesday.
Hafez described the call as a “deliberate attempt to politicize a case of natural death.”
Rupert Colville, spokesman for the OHCHR, had said “Any sudden death in custody must be followed by a prompt, impartial, thorough and transparent investigation carried out by an independent body to clarify the cause of death.”
Morsi, a senior figure in Egypt’s now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood organization, was elected as Egypt’s president after the 2011 revolution, which ousted former dictator Hosni Mubarak.
However, Morsi was deposed through a bloody military coup led by his then-army chief and now President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in July 2013.
Morsi, 67, had been serving prison terms on several charges, including passing intelligence to Qatar.
He suffered from medical neglect during his imprisonment as well as poor conditions in prison.
Last year, a report by a panel of UK legislators and attorneys warned that the lack of medical treatment could result in Morsi’s “premature death.”
The Muslim Brotherhood has labeled Morsi’s death as a full-fledged murder.
The organization said Egyptian authorities were responsible for his deliberate slow death.
During the past few years, Sisi has faced growing criticism about his way of treating dissidents, especially those linked to the Muslim Brotherhood movement.
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