Ousted president Mohamed Morsi, who died on Monday after suffering a heart attack during his ongoing trial for espionage, was buried in eastern Cairo on Tuesday morning. Prosecution authorities allowed Morsi to be buried after a forensic committee completed a report into the cause of death. A statement by prosecutor Nabil Sadek on Monday said the 67-year-old ousted president died Monday afternoon while attending a trial session of what is popularly known as the spy case. It relates to suspected contacts between Morsi and the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas. The prosecutor-general said that during the trial the court had allowed Morsi to speak as he had requested. “Morsi spoke for five minutes before the court adjourned the hearing for deliberations,” said the statement. Morsi fainted and was immediately transferred to hospital, said the statement. “A team affiliated with the Supreme State Security Court and South Cairo prosecution, were ordered by prosecutor Sadek to examine Morsi's body and obtain footage from the courtroom's surveillance cameras, the defendants' cage, as well as interview those present at the time of the former president's death. The initial medical examination of Morsi showed that he had no pulse, no indication of breathing and his eyes were open and unresponsive to light or stimuli,” the statement added. “Morsi was dead when he arrived at the hospital at 4:15pm, with no signs of any injuries on his body.” The prosecution immediately formed a senior forensic committee to prepare a report on Morsi's death. “After the report was finished the prosecution allowed Morsi to be buried,” said the statement. Morsi had been in prison since his ouster in 2013 following a popular uprising that began on 30 June. On 3 July representatives from major political parties, religious institutions, judicial authorities and civil society organisations held a conference in which they declared the removal of Morsi and the appointment of Adli Mansour, head of the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC), as interim president. Morsi was born in the Nile-delta governorate of Sharqiya in 1951. He studied engineering at Cairo University in the 1970s before travelling to the US to complete his PhD. He was among 88 Muslim Brotherhood members who won seats in parliament in 2000, though in the 2005 parliamentary elections he lost his seat. In 2012, after the Muslim Brotherhood's de-facto leader and financier Khairat Al-Shater was forced by the election committee to pull out from the race, the group chose Morsi as its presidential candidate. He went on to defeat former army general and prime minister Ahmed Shafik narrowly, winning 13.2 million votes to Shafik's 12.3 million. During his one-year rule Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood faced growing opposition. He was accused of seeking absolute power as the group attempted to turn Egypt into a religious state. Under Morsi Egypt's relations with Turkey, Iran and Qatar gained traction, while those with Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf countries deteriorated. A surge in sectarian strife and religious fanaticism, combined with mishandling of the economy, fueled protests against Brotherhood rule and on the first anniversary of his election millions of protesters took to the streets across Egypt demanding Morsi's ouster.
