[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] on Sunday said [press release] that the trial of deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] was “badly flawed” and compromised by due process violations. The former president was convicted [JURIST report] on April 21 for inciting violence and ordering the killing and torturing of protesters in 2012 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. While the full judgment has not yet been made public, a review conducted by HRW of the prosecution’s case file summary revealed little evidence to support Morsi’s conviction other than testimony from military and police officers and that the case against him was based on his relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood. HRW also noted concerns from Morsi’s defense team, who said their complaints about limited access to their client were ignored by the court and that the defense team called no witnesses for fear of arrest. One lawyer stated that the glass barrier that surrounded Morsi during the trial also constituted a due process violation, as it made it difficult for him to hear the judge and prevented lawyers from speaking to him. Morsi’s defense team plans to appeal the conviction of the former president, who faces five other ongoing prosecutions as well.

Political conflict in Egypt has been ongoing since the ouster of Morsi [JURIST backgrounder] in 2013, and political backlash has been particularly strong against his Muslim Brotherhood party. Earlier this month, HRW criticized [JURIST report] the mass trial of 51 Muslim Brotherhood supporters, claiming that the government presented no evidence of a crime being committed by the men other than the testimony of a single officer. Also in April an Egyptian prosecutor referred [JURIST report] 187 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to a military court. The supporters are accused of killing police officers while storming a Maghagha police station in the southern province of Minya in August 2013, only weeks after the removal of Morsi. In late March an Egyptian court acquitted 68 people [JURIST report], including members of the Muslim Brotherhood, who were charged with gathering illegally and attacking security forces earlier this year. Also in March an Egyptian court sentenced [JURIST report] a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and 13 others to death after finding them guilty of planning attacks against the state.