The former president and several other defendants were also slapped with a 15-year jail term each for allegedly leaking classified documents to Qatar. The verdict is not final and can be appealed.
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The court also confirmed a ruling from May 7, when six of the defendants were sentenced to death.
Senior leaders in the MB and their followers have been sentenced to death in different cases since military leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi overthrew Morsi’s government.
The three other defendants sentenced to death Saturday are documentary producer Ahmed Afify, EgyptAir cabin crew member Mohammed Keilany and academic Ahmed Ismail. His decision, however, is not binding.
Steven Ellis, the director of advocacy and communications at International Press Institute told Al Jazeera that he was “disappointed” with the verdict but not entirely surprised “given the climate towards press freedom in Egypt”. They had been sentenced to three years in prison for airing what a court described as “false news” and coverage biased in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Prosecutors argued Mursi and his aides were involved in leaking sensitive documents to Qatari intelligence that exposed the location of weapons held by the Egyptian armed forces.
Other charges include leading and joining the outlawed Brotherhood, that aims at changing Egypt’s regime by force, and attacking army and police posts and public properties.
The Brotherhood was banned and declared a terrorist group after Morsi was ousted. Their sentences are now in appeal.
He has previously been sentenced to death in a separate trial. However, an Egyptian court later quashed the death sentence against Badie. Hundreds of other Muslim Brotherhood members were also sentenced for life in various cases.
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The Egyptian government has been cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters since the ouster of Morsi.
