Morsi's final moments revealed

Lawyers for Mohammed Morsi said they witnessed the final moments of the life of the deposed Egyptian president before he fell unconscious and then died in an Egyptian court.

The lawyers said in statements to The New Arab's Arabic service that Morsi seemed to be in a normal state at the beginning of the session. The judge in the criminal court, Mohamed Sherin Fahmy, gave Morsi permission to speak.

Morsi said at the start of his speech that he had ‘secrets and information’ that could have saved him from his prison since 2013, but that it may harm Egypt’s national security.

Morsi reiterated his demand to observe the constitutional rule requiring the president to be tired by a special court headed by the chief of the constitutional court, saying he possessed dangerous secrets and information that should not be disclosed in an ordinary criminal court.

Morsi thanked his lawyer Kamel Mandour and praised him for his defense, but reiterated his reservation to disclose any details, describing his information as "important secrets."

After the end of Morsi's speech the president of the court decided to adjourn the hearing. So the accused began to move in the defendants' cage towards the door, and Morsi tried to move back to sit down, and then fell unconscious.

The lawyers explained that a state of panic happened in the cage and the court. The defendants screamed that "President Morsi has lost consciousness" and a number of doctors among the accused went to help him, led by Dr. Mustafa Al-Ghuneimi, and he confirmed that Morsi's pulse had gone.

Morsi was then taken to the prison hospital where he was confirmed dead. 

Throughout his trials, Morsi insisted he remained Egypt’s legitimate president. In early court sessions he gave angry speeches until judges ordered him kept in a glass cage during sessions where they could turn off his audio.