Timeline of ‘Espionage for Qatar’ trials

CAIRO – 17 September 2017: Several lawsuits revolving around “Espionage for Qatar” were initiated in 2014 against former President Mohamed Morsi and others affiliated with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Morsi and his Islamist regime were ousted through mass protests on July 3, 2013.

September 6, 2014:
Former Public Prosecutor Hisham Barakat, who was assassinated in June 2015, referred Morsi and 10 defendants to the Cairo Criminal Court.

February 15, 2015:
The first trial session was held, and that was the beginning of a series of 96 trial sessions over three years.

May 7, 2016:
Six defendants were sentenced to death.

June 18, 2016:
Cairo criminal court sentenced Morsi, his then office director Ahmed Abdel Aty, and former presidential secretary Amin Abdel Hamid al-Serafy to life sentences in one of the lawsuits. The same court also sentenced Morsi, Serafy, and his sister Karima - who was also a former presidential secretary - to 15 years in prison.

August 2016:
The defense of the convicts appealed the verdicts.

May 20, 2017:
The first hearing of the appeals took place in the Cairo Court of Appeal.

September 16, 2017:
The Court of Cassation cancelled on Saturday the 15-year-prison sentence issued by Criminal Court on former President Mohamed Morsi, while it upheld the life sentence issued by the same court in different lawsuits falling under the umbrella of “Espionage with Qatar.”

The Court of Appeal also issued its ruling on six other convicts in the “Espionage with Qatar” lawsuits, as it cancelled 15-year prison sentences on Amin al-Serafy and Ahmed Afifi.

However, the court upheld death sentences on Afifi and Mohamed Kilani, and the life sentence on Serafy.

The court also upheld a 15-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine on Khaled Hamdy Radwan, while it cancelled prison sentences of less than 15 years on him and Kilani.

The court referred the lawsuits against Chairman of Al-Jazeera Mohamed bin Jassem to the Public Prosecutor for investigation.

The seven appellants included Morsi, his then office director Ahmed Abdel Aty, former presidential secretary Amin Abdel Hamid al-Serafy, documentary producer Ahmed Ali Abdo Afifi, production manager at Misr 25 channel Khaled Hamdy Abdel Wahab Ahmed Radwan, steward at Egypt Air Mohamed Adel Hamed Kilany, and teaching assistant at Misr University for Sciences and Technology (MUST) Ahmed Ismail Thabet Ismail.