Ankara: Turkey’s president has accused Egyptian authorities of murdering former president Mohamed Morsi, who died after collapsing in court on Monday, and vowed to see them prosecuted in an international court.
At an election rally in Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Morsi “did not die, he was murdered” and called on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to act on his death.
Morsi, who was suffering from diabetes, hypertension and liver disease, collapsed after speaking during a retrial hearing in Cairo over charges of collaborating with foreign powers and militant groups.
Unfortunately, Mohamed Morsi was on the ground of the courtroom flailing for 20 minutes. No official there intervened. Morsi did not [die] naturally, he was killed.”
The office of Egypt’s attorney-general has denied claims that he was murdered and argued he “was transported immediately to the hospital”, where he was later pronounced dead.
Friends and colleagues of Morsi have accused security forces of murdering the former president and claim that police failed to administer first aid fast enough when he collapsed.
Prison guards allegedly left the 67-year-old “slumped on the floor” in the courtroom for more than 20 minutes, despite other defendants calling for help.
