Ousted Egypt leader Morsi sentenced to prison
CAIRO -- An Egyptian criminal court has sentenced ousted President Mohammed Morsi, who was backed by the powerful but now banned Muslim Brotherhood, to 20 years in prison over the killing of protesters in 2012, the first verdict to be issued against the country's first elected leader.
The Cairo Criminal Court issued the verdict Tuesday as Morsi and other defendants in the case stood in a soundproof glass cage inside a makeshift courtroom at Egypt's national police academy.
CBS News' Alex Ortiz reports that while the defendants were all handed long prison sentences, many in the courtroom had expected a harsher punishment. The former president and his advisors had all faced potential death penalties.
The case stems from violence outside the presidential palace in December 2012. Morsi's hardline Islamic supporters attacked opposition protesters, sparking clashes that killed at least 10 people.
Morsi faces several other trials along with thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members following the military overthrowing him in 2013. He has been held at a high-security prison near the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
Morsi has been one of the most prominent Brotherhood figures tried in Egyptian criminal court since the new military-backed government came to power, led by former commander and now President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
On Monday, a court sentenced 22 Morsi supporters to death after convicting them of storming a police station outside Cairo and killing an officer on July 3, 2013 -- the day the military overthrew Morsi.
Egypt has been sharply criticized for issuing mass death sentences largely targeting Islamic hardliners. Over 22,000 people have been arrested since Morsi's ouster, including most of the Brotherhood's top leaders, as well as large numbers of others swept up by police during pro-Morsi protests.
On Monday the Brotherhood condemned Morsi's trial, accusing el-Sissi's government of "exploiting the judiciary as a weapon." In a statement from its press office in London, the Brotherhood also called on Egyptians to demonstrate in the streets in Morsi's defense.