Morsi, Al-Jazeera Journalists Get Death Penalty in Egypt

An Egyptian court today sentenced former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi to life in prison in an espionage trial in which six of his co-defendants were handed death penalties.

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The court acquitted Morsi of charges of having supplied Qatar with classified documents but sentenced him to life for leading an unlawful organisation, his lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maksoud told news agency AFP.

The ousted president was also convicted of having "stolen secret documents concerning state security" and handed another 15-year jail term, the lawyer added.

Meanwhile, the court handed down death sentences against six defendants, including two journalists tried in absentia who allegedly helped relay secret documents to Qatar.

The journalists have been identified as Ibrahim Mohamed Hilal, former director of news at Al Jazeera's Arabic channel and Jordanian citizen Alaa Omar Mohamed Sablan.

The death sentences had been sent to the mufti -- Egypt's official interpreter of Islamic law -- as Egyptian law requires his opinion on death sentences although his opinion is not binding.

Helal told Al Jazeera that he was "angered" by the verdict and that the entire judicial process was "fabricated."

Several Al Jazeera journalists have been detained in recent years, including Mohamed Fahmy, and Baher Mohamed, who were jailed for “spreading false news” but later pardoned.

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In a article published on Friday, Al Jazeera says it has been “consistently and deliberately targeted” by the Egyptian authorities since it started coverage of Arab Spring protests in 2011 and was forced to close its offices in the country.

“Al Jazeera continues to reject any accusations that it has in any way compromised its journalistic integrity,” an article said.

Steven Ellis, the director of advocacy and communications at International Press Institute told Al Jazeera that he was "disappointed" with the verdict but not entirely surprised "given the climate towards press freedom in Egypt".