Mohamed Morsi death: Former Egyptian leader was murdered, says Turkish president Erdogan

Egypt accuses UN of ‘politicising’ death with call for independent investigation

Turkey’s president has accused Egyptian authorities of murdering former president Mohamed Morsi, who died after collapsing in court on Monday, and vowed to see them prosecuted in an international court.

At an election rally in Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Morsi “did not die, he was murdered” and called on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to act on his death.

Morsi, who was suffering from diabetes, hypertension and liver disease, collapsed after speaking during a retrial hearing in Cairo over charges of collaborating with foreign powers and militant groups.

Mr Erdogan said: “Unfortunately, Mohamed Morsi was on the ground of the courtroom flailing for 20 minutes. No official there intervened. Morsi did not [die] naturally, he was killed.”

The office of Egypt’s attorney-general has denied claims that he was murdered and argued he “was transported immediately to the hospital”, where he was later pronounced dead.

Friends and colleagues of Morsi have accused security forces of murdering the former president and claim that police failed to administer first aid fast enough when he collapsed.

Prison guards allegedly left the 67-year-old “slumped on the floor” in the courtroom for more than 20 minutes, despite other defendants calling for help.

United Nations’ spokesperson Rupert Colville has called for a “prompt, impartial, thorough and transparent investigation” into Morsi’s death and his detention conditions.

In response, Egypt accused Mr Colville of making “politicised and immature” remarks.

Morsi, who was Egypt’s first democratically elected president, was buried quietly in Nasr City, an eastern suburb of the capital, on Tuesday.

Last year, a group of British MPs and lawyers warned that Morsi could die in prison if he did not receive urgent medical care.

In addition, Conservative MP Crispin Blunt, the former chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, called for an independent international investigation into the cause of his death on Tuesday.

Morsi was elected as president of Egypt in the summer of 2012, after beating Ahmed Shafik, the last prime minister of the toppled president Hosni Mubarak, but was ousted by the military just a year later.

He was arrested in July 2013, following major protests calling for his resignation, and was later made to stand trial for inciting violence against protesters, breaking free from jail in 2011 and espionage.

Agencies contributed to this report