[JURIST] Egypt’s state prosecutor filed charges Saturday against former President Mohamed Morsi [BBC backgrounder] for selling state secrets to Qatar. Attorney General Hisham Barakat claimed [Reuters report] that an investigation had revealed evidence that Morsi, aided by nine others who have also been charged, leaked national intelligence to the Gulf Arab state and Al Jazeera [official website], a media broadcaster owned by the Qatar government, in exchange for USD $1 million. The Qatari Foreign Ministry [official website] has not responded to requests for comment and Al Jazeera, which is banned from Egypt, has denied any journalistic bias. Qatar supports Morsi’s political party, the Muslim Brotherhood [party website], which has been labeled a terrorist organization [JURIST report] by the current government of Egypt.

Morsi was elected President of Egypt in 2012 following the Egyptian Revolution [JURIST backgrounder]. After only a year in power, Morsi was deposed by the military in July 2013 and criminal charges were first raised [JURIST reports] against him in September of the same year. In August, the Supreme Administrative Court in Egypt banned [JURIST report] the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi’s political party, from the country. An Egyptian appeals court acquitted [JURIST report] Morsi’s former prime minister, Hisham Qandil, in July. Morsi’s trial in Cairo was adjourned [JURIST report] in February after a brief appearance in court. Following the initial charges of “incitement to murder,” Morsi was also charged [JURIST report] with espionage and terrorism in December 2013.