Egypt’s former President Mohamed Morsi has passed away during a trial court session in the capital Cairo, state television says.
It said 67-year-old Morsi was in court for a hearing on charges of espionage emanating from suspected contacts with Hamas.
However judicial and security sources said Morsi died at the hospital he was transferred to.
“He was speaking before the judge for 20 minutes then became very animated and fainted. He was quickly rushed to the hospital where he later died,” a judicial source said.
Morsi was serving a 20-year prison sentence for a conviction arising from the killing of protesters during demonstrations in 2012 and a life sentence for espionage in a case related to the Gulf state of Qatar.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a strong ally of the Islamist president during his brief tenure as Egypt’s leader, paid tribute to Morsi and called him a “martyr.”