Egypt’s Ousted President Morsi Buried After Courtroom Death

Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi, was buried under heavy security early on Tuesday, a day after his dramatic collapse and death inside a Cairo courtroom, a member of his defense team said.

Morsi’s family attended funeral prayers in the mosque of Cairo’s Tora prison, followed by the burial at a cemetery in the city’s eastern district of Nasr City, said Abdul-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud, a member of Morsi’s defense team.

Morsi’s son, Ahmed, said security agencies refused to allow Morsi to be buried at the family’s cemetery in his hometown in Sharqia Province, and instead had him interred at a cemetery dedicated to prominent Islamists in Cairo.

Security agents turned reporters away from the cemetery, banning them from taking photographs of the funeral. Reporters were also barred from traveling to Morsi’s home town.

Late Monday, Egypt’s chief prosecutor said Morsi’s body would be examined to determine the cause of his death. State media, citing an unnamed medical source, said he died after suffering a heart attack.

Morsi collapsed just after he had addressed the court, speaking from inside the glass cage and warning that he had “many secrets” he could reveal, a judicial official said, speaking on condition of anonymity under regulations.

In his final comments, Morsi continued to insist he was Egypt’s legitimate president, demanding a special tribunal, one of his defense lawyers, Kamel Madour told The Associated Press. State media said Morsi died before he could be taken to hospital.

It was a dramatic end for a figure central in the twists and turns taken by Egypt since its “revolution” — from the pro-democracy uprising that in 2011 ousted Mubarak, through controversial Islamist rule and now back to a tight grip under the domination of military men.