Behind the 20-year prison sentence of former Egyptian President

(Baonghean) - The Cairo Criminal Court on April 21 sentenced ousted President Mohammed Morsi to 20 years in prison for arresting and torturing protesters during his rule. According to analysts, the sentence for Mr. Morsi is not only a strong message to the Muslim Brotherhood but also a test of the international community's reaction to the legality of Mr. Morsi's trial.

Before the current sentence, Mr. Mohammed Morsi and the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood have been through many trials. And in this sentencing, Mr. Mohammed Morsi and 14 other members were sentenced to 20 years in prison for kidnapping, torture and using force against protesters during the marches in the capital Cairo in 2012. Previously, since Mr. Morsi was overthrown by the military in July 2013, Egyptian authorities banned the Muslim Brotherhood, and hundreds of Mr. Morsi's supporters were sentenced to death in mass trials. So, although Mr. Morsi and other members escaped the most serious charge of massacring protesters - a charge that could lead to the death penalty, the 20-year prison sentence is still considered a heavy blow to the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been under a lot of pressure from the government with the aim of weakening the organization.

Ousted President Mohammed Morsi in court.

Of course, members of the Muslim Brotherhood immediately expressed their dissatisfaction with the verdict. They called the court's verdict a "travesty of justice" and "a life sentence for democracy in Egypt". The reaction of the Muslim Brotherhood is not unreasonable as there have been some opinions about the fairness and transparency of the trial. Accordingly, the sentence was based on the testimony of unreliable witnesses and incomplete evidence. Mr. Toby Cadman, a lawyer specializing in human rights in Egypt, also said that the trial of Mr. Morsi had a political purpose and contained a message that President El Sisi's government would not tolerate resistance from opposition factions, especially the Muslim Brotherhood.

Sharing this view, an Egyptian journalist, Yehia Ghanem, also said that the entire Morsi trial was a political calculation from the beginning, and that Egyptians and the world must understand that “there will be no place for democratic rules.” Therefore, Mr. Amr Darrag, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and also the co-founder of the political branch of the organization, called on the US and UK to delay military aid to Egypt - which he called “supporting brutal tyranny.”

If the Cairo court's ruling on Morsi was a test for the international community, it has received its first answer from the United States. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the United States continues to strongly oppose political arrests and trials, and that Morsi must be tried according to basic legal procedures. The United States said it would review the basis on which the Egyptian court sentenced Mohammed Morsi to 20 years in prison. But analysts say that whether the Cairo court's ruling was a political move, as the Muslim Brotherhood has alleged, or as the United States fears, it was an understandable choice by incumbent President Fatah El Sissi.

The international community has understood all too well the situation that Egypt faced when Mr. El Sissi came to power, which was a chaotic security situation with deep divisions in society. And Mr. El Sissi certainly would not want to face any signs of resistance rekindling, when Egypt has only experienced nearly a year of relative peace since he officially took office. In May, Mr. Morsi will continue to face two more trials on charges of colluding with foreign fighters to rescue Muslim prisoners in 2011, colluding with the Palestinian Hamas movement, Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to carry out terrorist acts in Egypt, and revealing state secrets to Qatar to endanger the country - charges that can also lead to the death penalty. With Mr. El Sissi's calculations, world public opinion is waiting to see if Mr. Mohammed Morsi can step through "death's door" once again.

Thuy Ngoc