(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Turkey's leading Muslim scholars, writers, intellectuals and opinion leaders issued a joint statement Monday condemning Saturday's death sentence issued against Egypt's first elected president Mohamed Morsi, and others.
On Saturday, an Egyptian court referred 122 out 166 defendants - including Morsi - to the grand mufti to consider possible death sentences against them over charges of involvement in espionage and a mass jailbreak during Egypt's 2011 revolution.
"On behalf of Turkey and all Muslims in the world, we condemn the arbitrary death sentences issued by [incumbent Abdel Fattah] el-Sisi's coup regime against more than 100 people including Morsi, who became Egypt's first elected president after garnering 52% of the votes [in June 2012]," the statement said, adding that the "unjust and void death penalties issued by the oppressive Egyptian regime were not only issued against the people in question, but the whole Egyptian nation, and the Muslim community at large."
The Turkish scholars said that the death verdict was "encouraged" by the international community, and "collaborator" Arab regimes, and in particular the United States and the Western world, which "remained silent in the face of and even ignored the Egyptian coup, and the massacres and injustices committed since then".
"We call on all believers, and all people who defend the right to freedom and thought to protest against this cruelty, and be [the] voice of the oppressed Egyptians," the statement concluded.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan termed the Egyptian court's verdict a capital punishment against democracy Saturday, and called on the Western world to take a stance against the decision, criticizing their silence over the issue.
The U.S. and the United Nations also expressed concern over the decision Sunday.
Cairo said Sunday it rejected all "inappropriate comments" on the country's court rulings, labeling them an unacceptable interference in Egypt's internal affairs.
Most death sentences handed by Egyptian courts are commuted into prison terms.
Last year, hundreds of Egyptians were sentenced to death but rulings on only a few dozen were actually upheld, with the rest being converted into 25-year imprisonment.
Last month, Morsi and 12 co-defendants were each sentenced to 20 years in prison for allegedly mobilizing supporters to "intimidate, detain and torture" dozens of anti-Morsi protesters during clashes outside eastern Cairo's Ittihadiya presidential palace in December 2012.
Morsi currently faces multiple criminal trials on charges that include espionage and "insulting the judiciary", charges he says are politically motivated.
Since Morsi's ouster in July 2013, when he was removed by incumbent President Sisi following mass protests and a military coup, Egyptian security forces have launched a relentless crackdown on dissent that has targeted both Islamists and secularists, leaving hundreds dead and thousands behind bars.
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