KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has criticised an Egypt court's decision to sentence to death deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, saying it "bodes ill" for the Egyptian people and democracy in Egypt.
In a tweet posted Sunday, Khan said:
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In a second tweet, Khan correlated the death sentence awarded to Morsi with the controversial execution of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) founder and former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged in 1979 for the murder of a political opponent.
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A press release issued by the PTI quoted Khan as saying, "Pakistan had suffered tremendously as a result of the hanging of its democratic leader Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto by a military dictator".
"The Pakistani nation and democracy in Pakistan continue to suffer the fallout from Bhutto's hanging as the Pakistani polity stands polarised and militarised even today," the press release added.
The statement added said that Khan had called on Egypt to learn from "Pakistan's bitter experience".
Ideas that bring leaders to power through the ballot box cannot be obliterated through deposing them undemocratically and then sentencing them to death, it further quoted Khan.
An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced ousted Islamist president Morsi and more than 100 other defendants to death on Saturday over jail breaks during the 2011 uprising.
Read: Egypt sentences deposed president Morsi to death
Morsi, sitting in a caged dock, raised his fists in defiance when the judge read his verdict.
Many of those sentenced were tried in absentia, including prominent Islamic cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi who resides in Qatar.
US 'deeply concerned' by Morsi death sentence
The United States expressed “deep concern” Sunday after an Egyptian court sentenced deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and more than 100 others to death for their role in a mass jailbreak during the 2011 uprising.
“We have consistently spoken out against the practice of mass trials and sentences, which are conducted in a manner that is inconsistent with Egypt's international obligations and the rule of law,” a State Department official said.
Noting that they were preliminary sentences, the official added: “We continue to stress the need for due process and individualised judicial processes for all Egyptians in the interests of justice.”
Hours after the ruling, gunmen shot dead two judges, a prosecutor and their driver in the strife-torn Sinai Peninsula, in the first such attack on the judiciary in the region.
The US State Department official said they had been “senselessly murdered.”
“We reiterate our steadfast commitment to Egypt's security,” the official added.
