CAIRO — An Egyptian court sentenced ousted president Mohammed Morsi and over 100 others to death Saturday over a mass prison break during the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak and later brought the Muslim Brotherhood to power for the first time in Egypt.



As is customary in passing capital punishment, Judge Shaaban El-Shami referred his death sentence on Morsi and others to the nation’s top Muslim theologian, or mufti, for his non-binding opinion. El-Shami set June 2 for the next hearing.



Also sentenced to death with Morsi in the prison break case were 105 defendants. They include some 70 Palestinians. Those tried in absentia in Egypt receive automatic retrials once detained.



Those sentenced to death with Morsi on Saturday were the Brotherhood’s spiritual leader, Mohammed Badie, as well as one of the Arab world’s best known Islamic scholars, the Qatar-based Youssef Al-Qaradawi. Also sprang out of jail in 2011 were Hezbollah and Hamas operatives.  — AP