Anger brews on social media against Sisi after Mohamed Morsi’s death

Egyptian and other activists are taking to social media to voice their anger over the death of  Mohamed Morsi.

The former Egyptian president, the only democratically elected leader in Egypt’s history, died while in court on Monday, according to Egyptian state media.

Morsi was overthrown by Egypt’s current military ruler, Abdel Fattah el Sisi, in a July 2013 coup and has been imprisoned since.

Activists, politicians, and ordinary Egyptians paid their respects to the former president online, while demanding the international community acts to curb further human rights abuses in Egypt.

Social media platforms have given activists and dissidents a chance to express views that would otherwise be repressed by local media outlets.

Egyptian newspapers have largely avoided covering the story in depth, but thanks to Twitter and Facebook Morsi’s family were able to get their voices out.

"We consider my husband, President Mohamed Morsi as a martyr," Morsi’s wife, Naglaa, said in a tweet on Tuesday.

Retired Egyptian footballer Mohamed Abutrika writes: God have mercy on Dr Mohamed Morsi, the former president of Egypt...

Prison conditions

The conditions Morsi was detained in have long been criticised by rights groups and foreign politicians.

A group of three British MPs published a report warning that Morsi’s health had deteriorated significantly due to his treatment and that there was a risk of death.

That’s led to deep-rooted suspicions that the Sisi regime had deliberately kept Morsi in poor conditions in the hope of hastening his death.

“Not surprising that the Egyptian government under Pres Sisi would let Mohamed Morsi die of untreated illness, given that it shot and killed 817 of his followers in Rabaa Square in a mere 12 hours in 2014,” wrote Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth.

Activist Iyad Baghdadi went as far as to call Morsi’s death murder.

“Morsi was murdered through being systematically denied medical treatment and tortured by solitary confinement for five years. The Sisi regime's era started with a massacre and will continue to murder, because nobody is there to stop them,” he wrote on Twitter.

The anger was not directed at Sisi alone, with many blaming western states for supporting him and also criticising western media outlets for downplaying Morsi’s death.

Nader Hashemi, an academic at the University of Denver, said western states shared culpability for Morsi’s passing.

“Let's be clear -- General El Sisi, Egypt's fascist ruler -- is responsible for this death. Indirectly, Western liberal government's who have embraced Sisi, are also responsible. Did one of them protest his morally indefensible treatment over the past 6 years?” He said.