Tunisia ex-leader Marzouki blasts 'stupidly oppressive' Egypt regime

Marzouki made the comments lambasting Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's "stupidly oppressive" regime in an online statement and denied reports he planned to visit Cairo.

"I do not have the slightest intention to visit Sisi's Egypt," Marzouki said.

"I have been and always will be opposed to the policies of mass executions, overcrowded prisons, impoverishment, oppression, treachery and corruption,"

"I will visit Egypt the day that it is liberated from the stupidest form of tyranny I have ever seen and the great people of Egypt overcome this," he added.

The comments come in response to an Egyptian lawyer submitting an urgent appeal to prevent the former leader from entering Egypt, local media reported.

The lawyer wanted Marzouki to be banned for allegedly plotting with leaders of the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood to stage an assassination attempt against his life to "tarnish the image of the Egyptian state".

The lawyer also claimed Marzouki - who led the moderate Islamist Ennahda party to power after the 2011 revolution - posed a threat to state security through allegedly creating unrest in the North African country.

During Marzouki's premiership – between 2011 and 2014 – he supported ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

He harshly condemned the military overthrow that lead to his disposal, Sisi's rise to power and the consequent clampdowns on civil freedoms.

Last year, Marzouki was at the forefront of calls opposing a potential visit by Sisi to Tunisia.