Morsi's village erupts in anti-regime protests as Egypt's ousted president laid to rest
Morsi's village erupts in anti-regime protests as Egypt's ousted president laid to rest
Protesters took to the streets of Al-Adwa in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya on Tuesday after performing absentee funeral prayers for the ousted Islamist former president.
2 min read
Morsi was elected president in 2012 in the country's first free elections [Twitter]
Hundreds of people have protested in the hometown of Egypt's first democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi a day after his dramatic collapse and death inside a Cairo courtroom.
The protesters took to the streets of Al-Adwa in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya on Tuesday after performing absentee funeral prayers for the ousted Islamist ex-president amid tight security.
Security forces dispersed the protesters and no casualties were reported, residents of the village said.
"Sisi killed the martyr president," they chanted as they held up pictures of Morsi, according to °®Âþµº's Arabic-language service.
Security agencies refused to allow Morsi to be buried at the family's cemetery in Adwa, and instead had him quickly interred at a Cairo cemetery dedicated to imprisoned Islamists in a ceremony closed to the public and press.
A few members of Morsi's family attended funeral prayers in the mosque of Cairo's Tora prison, followed by the burial at the cemetery in the eastern district of Nasr City.
Morsi, 67, was a senior member of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, and was elected president in 2012 in the country's first free elections following the topping the year before of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
The military overthrew Morsi in 2013 after massive protests and crushed the Brotherhood in a major crackdown, arresting Morsi and many others of the group's leaders.
During his six years in prison, Morsi, who was known to have diabetes, was often held in solitary confinement and was largely barred from receiving visitors.
His family was only allowed to visit three times. While in detention, Morsi continued to appear in court on a range of charges.
Rights groups accused the Egyptian authorities of keeping Morsi in inhumane conditions in prison and refusing him medical treatment.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, has called for an independent investigation into Morsi's death.
Meanwhile, Egyptian authorities have accused the UN of seeking to "politicise" the death and rejected accusations of "slowly killing" Morsi.
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