Former Egyptian leader Mohammed Morsi sentenced to death

(Baonghean.vn) - An Egyptian court has sentenced ousted president Mohammed Morsi and more than 100 others to death after a series of prison breaks in 2011.

Mr Morsi was overthrown by the military in July 2013 (Photo: AP)

Morsi was previously sentenced to 20 years in prison for ordering the arrest and torture of protesters while he was in power.

Egypt's religious authorities will now have to give their opinion before the sentence can be carried out. Morsi's supporters from his Muslim Brotherhood movement have described the charges against him as "ridiculous".

He was ousted by the military in July 2013 after mass street protests against his rule. Since then, authorities have banned the Muslim Brotherhood and arrested thousands of Morsi supporters.

Supporters of Mr Morsi took to the streets in protest after he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in April (Photo: AP)

He was among more than 100 other defendants sentenced to death for their role in a series of prison breaks during the uprising against then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Morsi escaped from Wadi Natroun prison in January 2011, accused of colluding with foreign militants to plot mass Islamist jailbreaks.

Many of his co-defendants are Palestinians accused of being members of the militant group Hamas.

The court also issued decisions on another verdict, sentencing 16 Muslim Brotherhood members, including the death penalty for deputy leader Khairat al-Shater on espionage charges.

Mr Morsi will also face charges of espionage.

Hundreds of people have been sentenced to death in a crackdown on members of the Muslim Brotherhood following the overthrow of Mr Morsi in 2013.

However, it is believed that only one death sentence has been carried out to date.

Supporters of Mr Morsi have denounced the charges against him as completely false.

Amr Darrag, a former minister in Mr Morsi's government, described Saturday 16 May as "one of the darkest days" in Egypt's history.

“We are deeply concerned that the latest charges will permanently erase democracy and the democratic process in Egypt,” he said in a statement.

The death penalty has also been condemned by Amnesty International, which said it had become a tool "to purge the political opposition", and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan likened it to an act of "ancient Egypt".

Crowds gathered in Tahrir Square to celebrate after the military overthrew Mr Morsi (Photo: AP)

Morsi was Egypt's first popularly elected president, but protests began forming less than a year after he took power when he issued a decree granting him sweeping new powers.

The armed forces, led by then-army chief General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, overthrew him.

In May 2014, Mr. Sisi became president of Egypt after winning the presidential election with 46% of the vote.

Pham Tien Hoan

(According to BBC)