ERZURUM / EDIRNE, Turkey
The International Rabaa Platform has criticized the death and prison sentences against Egypt's former president Mohamed Morsi as an insult against the Muslim world, coming only two days before the holy month of Ramadan.
"All actors that support the military coup are responsible for these verdicts," Coordinator Cihangir Isbilir told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.
He spoke after an Egyptian court sentenced the country's first democratically-elected president to life in prison, on charges of "conspiring" with Palestinian group Hamas to carry out "terrorist acts" inside Egypt.
The same court later announced a death sentence for Morsi over charges of taking part in a mass jailbreak in 2011.
The head of the Istanbul-based rights group described the Muslim world as under a "global siege”.
Isbilir also predicted that Morsi might face another death sentence in a further court case where he was accused of "espionage for Qatar”.
He said that the announcement marked the 713rd day of the military coup in Egypt, which he said has no legal basis, describing all court rulings under the coup regime as politically motivated.
"These verdicts are intended to serve as a message not only to the [Morsi's] Muslim Brotherhood but to all actors, elected leaders and governments that they regard as a threat to the region and the status quo," he said.
Isbilir further noted that the absence of a global reaction against the coup would pave the way for a new “chaos scenario”.
"Egypt might become another Syria, Yemen or Iraq. The danger is that serious," he said.
The coordinator also emphasized that a strong stance is required not only from Turkey but also from the Gulf States -- mainly Saudi Arabia, he said -- and the western democracies to stop such practices by Egypt's coup regime.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Abdurrahman Dilipak -- the platform's spokesman -- termed the death sentence against Morsi a “murder”.
He said that any person of conscience could not remain silent against such a decision, which he said also means aiding and abetting a murderer for some Arab and Western countries that support Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi -- who led the 2013 coup as a military chief.
Dilipak said that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Arab League, African Union, European Union, United Nations, Turkey and the entire Muslim world needed to take action against the decision.
In April, Morsi and 12 co-defendants were sentenced to 20 years in prison each on charges of 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 was ousted in a 2013 coup led by the then military chief el-Sisi following protests against his one-year rule.
Egyptian authorities have since launched a relentless crackdown on dissent that has largely targeted Morsi supporters, leaving hundreds dead and thousands behind bars.
