Egypt court orders retrial of ousted President Morsi

A report from Cairo said an Egyptian court on Tuesday cancelled the death sentence conviction against ousted President Mohamed Morsi and ordered retrial in the jailbreak case.

It said the court ordered that the cases be looked at by another bench, citing flaws in the investigations.

The report noted that the court said Morsi would be given a new trial alongside five other leaders of his now-banned Muslim Brotherhood group, whose death sentences in the same case were also quashed.

In June 2013, controversial Judge Nagy Shehata handed the defendants death sentences.

Last month, a court upheld a 20-year jail sentence for Morsi over the killing of protesters in December 2012. It was the first final verdict against Morsi.

Morsi was sentenced to death in June last year in connection with a mass jail break during the country’s 2011 uprising.

The first President to be democratically elected after the 2011 revolt, Morsi was overthrown in a coup led by now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in 2013.

Morsi, who was immediately arrested after the coup, has received lengthy jail sentences related to other charges, including two high-profile espionage cases.

Tuesday’s court ruling means he would no longer be executed.