Egypt’s former president Mohammed Morsi was buried early Tuesday morning under heavy security a day after his dramatic collapse and death inside a Cairo courtroom.
Abdul-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud a member of Morsi’s defense team said he was buried at a cemetery in the Cairo’s eastern district of Nasr City.
This was despite his family’s plea and wishes to have the former president buried at the family’s cemetery in his hometown in Sharqia province.
AP reports that security agents turned reporters away from the cemetery, banning them from taking photographs of the funeral. Reporters were also barred from traveling to Morsi’s hometown.
Morsi, 67, was elected president in 2012 in the country’s first free elections following the ouster the year before of long-time leader Hosni Mubarak.
He was subsequently toppled 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 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 and while in detention, Morsi continued to appear in court on a range of charges.
Late Monday, Egypt’s chief prosecutor said Morsi’s body would be examined to determine the cause of his death.
State TV, citing an unnamed medical source, said he died after suffering a heart attack.
Morsi collapsed Monday just after he had addressed the court, speaking from inside the glass cage and warning that he had “many secrets” he could reveal, a judicial official said.
