Egypt Authorities Refuse Former President Mursi's Burial in Family Cemetery
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Egyptian authorities have refused to allow former president Mohamed Mursi to be buried at his family’s cemetery, his son Abdullah Mohamed Mursi said.
The son said on Monday that Mursi’s family did not know the location of his body and that their only contact with the authorities was through the family’s lawyers, Reuters reported.
Mursi died on Monday at the age of 67.
He collapsed and died while attending a court hearing, Egyptian state media reported. He suffered a "sudden heart attack," state-run Ahram Gate said.
Egypt’s public prosecutor said there was no evidence of marks or injuries to his body but investigators would conduct a full autopsy and examine courthouse video for evidence.
Amnesty International urged a transparent probe into the circumstances of Mursi’s death, while other rights advocates seized on it as proof authorities were denying him proper medical care.
Mursi, a top figure in the Muslim Brotherhood who became Egypt’s first freely elected president in 2012, was overthrown after mass protests against this rule.
Ousted by his army chief -- the future President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi -- Mursi languished in prison after being convicted for conspiring with foreign militants in a prison breakout as well as passing state secrets to Qatar. The Brotherhood faced a sweeping crackdown in the wake of Mursi’s removal, with security forces killing hundreds of its supporters and imprisoning thousands.