Here’s a look at the life of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, Egypt’s first democratically elected leader.
Personal:
Birth date: August 20, 1951 (some sources say August 8)
Birth place: Sharqiya, Egypt
Marriage: Naglaa Ali Mahmoud
Children: Ahmed; Osama; Omar; Shaimaa; Abdullah
Education: Cairo University, B.S., Engineering, 1975; Cairo University, M.S., Metallurgical Engineering, 1978; University of Southern California, Ph.D., Materials Engineering, 1982
Religion: Sunni Islamist
Other Facts:
His two oldest children have US citizenship; they were born in Los Angeles.
Timeline:
1980s – After receiving a doctorate in engineering from the University of Southern California, Morsy works as an assistant professor at California State University, Northridge.
1985 – Returns to Egypt and works as a professor at Zagazig University in Sharkeya.
2000-2005 – Is a member of the Egyptian parliament as part of the Muslim Brotherhood bloc. Loses bid for re-election in 2005.
2006 – Spends seven months in jail as a political prisoner.
2011 – The Muslim Brotherhood establishes the Freedom and Justice Party with Morsy as the leader.
April 7, 2012 – Is tapped to run as the Freedom and Justice Party’s presidential candidate after first choice Khairat al-Shater is disqualified.
May 23-24, 2012 – Egypt holds the first round of voting in presidential elections. Morsy, as well as former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik, are the top vote-getters.
June 14, 2012 – The military regime dissolves the Islamist-dominated parliament.
June 16-17, 2012 – Egypt holds the second round of presidential elections.
June 24, 2012 – Egypt’s national elections commission announces that Morsy has defeated Shafiq in presidential run-off elections with 51.7% of the vote.
June 24, 2012 – Morsy resigns from the Muslim Brotherhood and the Freedom and Justice Party to show that he will represent all Egyptians as president.
June 30, 2012 – Morsy is sworn in as Egypt’s first democratically elected president.
July 8, 2012 – Announces that he is overriding a military edict that dissolved the country’s elected parliament and calling lawmakers back into session.
July 10, 2012 – Parliament meets for the first time since April, at which time they vote to appeal the June 14 parliamentary elections invalidation. The Higher Constitutional Court denies the appeal and considers the current parliament invalid.
July 11, 2012 – Morsy says that he “will respect” the High Constitutional Court’s ruling that halted his decision to call the nation’s parliament back into session.
August 12, 2012 – Morsy forces Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, chief of staff of the armed forces Lt. Gen. Sami Anan and other senior military commanders into retirement.
August 14, 2012 – Names new military commanders.
August 30, 2012 – In a speech at the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran, denounces Syrian President Bashar al-Assad‘s government as “an oppressive regime that has lost its legitimacy.” Morsy’s visit toIranis the first by an Egyptian leader since Iran’s revolution in 1979.
November 21, 2012 – Plays a key role in negotiating the cease-fire between Hamas and Israel that takes effect at 9 p.m. (2 p.m. ET). Six Israelis and 163 Palestinians die during the eight days of violence.
November 22, 2012 – Issues an order preventing any court from overturning his decisions. He also orders retrials and re-investigations in the deaths of protesters during the 2011 uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak.
December 9, 2012 – Reinstates judicial oversight of presidential decisions.
December 15, 2012 – Drafts new constitution and submits it to the people for a vote.
December 25, 2012 – After several days of voting, the people approve the new Islamist-backed constitution, and Morsy signs it into law.
June 30, 2013 – On the first anniversary of President Morsy’s election win there are protests in Tahrir Square, and around Egypt, demanding his ouster. The US Embassy in Cairo is closed, andthe Obama administration urges Morsy to hold early elections.
July 1, 2013 – The Egyptian military tells the country’s civilian government it has 48 hours, until the evening of July 3, 2013, to “meet the demands of the people” or it will step in to restore order. The ultimatum is not considered the declaration of a coup.
July 3, 2013 – President Morsy is ousted in a military coup.
July 12, 2013 – State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki calls for the release of Morsy from detention, marking the first time the United States has made such a call.
July 14, 2013 – CNN reports that prosecutors are investigating complaints against Morsy over accusations of spying and killing protesters and have frozen the assets of more than a dozen people in a probe of violence in Cairo.
September 1, 2013 – Morsy and 14 members of the Muslim Brotherhood are ordered to stand trial for incidents that happened in December near the presidential palace. The charges are incitement to conduct murder and “thuggery.”
November 4, 2013 – Morsy’s trial begins, recesses and later adjourns until January 8, 2014.
December 21, 2013 – Egyptian media reports that Morsy is to face additional charges. He and 132 others are to be tried for a 2011 prison escape, while Morsy and 35 members of the Muslim Brotherhood are to be tried for allegedly collaborating with foreign organizations to commit terrorist acts and revealing defense secrets.
January 8, 2014 – Morsy’s trial is postponed until February 1 after he fails to appear in court due to poor weather conditions for prisoner transport.
February 16, 2014 – Morsy is placed in a soundproof glass box during his trial. Defense lawyers refuse to participate, and proceedings are adjourned until February 23.
April 21, 2015 – Morsy is sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted on charges related to violence outside the presidential palace in December 2012. Morsy is acquitted of murder in the deaths of protesters.
May 16, 2015 – A Cairo court sentences Morsy to death for his role in a 2011 prison escape.
June 16, 2015 – Morsy’s death sentence is upheld by an Egyptian court. Additionally, he is sentenced to life in prison on espionage charges.
June 18, 2016 – Morsy is sentenced to 25 years in prison for leaking state secrets to Qatar, and receives an additional 15-year sentence for other, lesser, charges. Six people, including two Al Jazeera journalists, are also sentenced to death for their role in the Qatar espionage case.
November 15, 2016 – The Court of Cassation overturns Morsy’s May 2015 death sentence and orders a new trial.
November 22, 2016 – An Egyptian court overturns the life sentence handed to Morsy and 18 others in June 2015, ordering a retrial in the case.Morsy and his co-accused had been found guilty of conspiring with Palestinian group Hamas, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and other foreign organizations.
March 28, 2018 – A panel commissioned by Morsy’s family and made up of British Parliamentarians reports its findings that the conditions of his detention “would constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,” and “could meet the threshold for torture in accordance (with) Egyptian and International law.” The panel writes that Morsy is receiving inadequate medical care “which is likely to lead to premature death.”
