Egypt’s former President Mohammed Morsi dies in court

Former President of Egypt Mohammed Morsi has died in court, Egyptian state television said Monday.

The state TV said the 67-year-old Morsi was attending a session Monday in his trial on espionage charges when he blacked out and then died. His body was taken to a hospital, it said.

He had been serving a seven-year sentence for falsifying his candidacy application for the 2012 presidential race.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, calling Morsi a “martyr,” extended condolences to his family and the Egyptian people.

Morsi was Egypt’s first democratically elected president. In 2013, he was removed from power in a military coup led by current President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.

The jailed former leader was facing an array of charges in multiple court cases