Muhammad Morsi Isa al-Ayyat, was a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood and became the first democratically elected president of Egypt in June 2012. A little more than a year later, following massive anti-Morsi demonstrations, he was deposed from office and detained by the Egyptian armed forces. His critics accused him of trying to turn Egypt into an Islamist dictatorship while doing nothing to improve the dire state of Egypt’s economy.

The Muslim Brotherhood was outlawed and Morsi was sentenced to death, a case that was overturned by the Cassation Court in 2016. An independent panel made up of British Parliamentarians reported that Morsi was kept in torture-like conditions and that inadequate medical care will likely “lead to premature death.”  On June 17th, 2019 Egyptian state television reported that Morsi had collapsed in court and later died suddenly.