(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi condemned a Tuesday court verdict sentencing him to 20 years in jail for the death of protesters in 2012.
Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, was found guilty, along with 12 co-defendants, of inciting the murder of demonstrators during clashes between his supporters and opponents outside eastern Cairo's Ittihadiya presidential palace in December of 2012.
Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Mohamed Montaser said such court verdicts were "invalid," as they were issued, he asserted, by "an illegitimate authority that is trying to impose a fait accompli through tyranny."
"This verdict won't affect the perseverance of President Mohamed Morsi and the revolutionaries in the least bit," Montaser said.
He added that the Brotherhood was "forging ahead with its revolutionary path and won't retreat or allow the coup [regime] and its tyranny to continue."
The National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy, Morsi's main support bloc, for its part, rejected the notion of "prosecuting the legitimate president."
"The alliance's main concern is to activate the revolutionary mobilization needed to oust the coup [regime] and liberate the homeland its people," it said in a statement.
Tuesday's verdict, which remains subject to appeal, was the first to be issued against Morsi since his ouster and detention by the army in mid-2013.
Since then, he has been slapped with numerous criminal charges, which he and his supporters insist are politically motivated.
Morsi was ousted by the military in July of 2013 € after only one year in office € following protests against his presidency.
Since Morsi's ouster, Egyptian authorities have launched a relentless crackdown on dissent that has largely targeted Morsi's Islamist supporters, leaving hundreds dead and thousands behind bars.
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