EGYPT COURT UPHOLDS LIFE SENTENCE AGAINST OUSTED PRESIDENT MORSI

A top Egyptian court on Saturday upheld a life sentence for ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in a case revolving around state documents leaked to Qatar. The Court of Cassation ruling, which is final, overthrew a 15-year sentence for Morsi on charges of stealing the documents, handed during the initial sentencing. But it upheld a life sentence — 25 years in prison in Egypt — on the charge of leading an illegal organisation. The court also upheld death sentences for three other defendants, a life sentence and a 15-year sentence for two others. The trial hinged on accusations that they passed on state secrets to Qatar, an ally of Morsi’s Islamist government that has denounced his 2013 overthrow by the military.