CRI听力:Death Verdict on Morsi Draws Mixed Reactions and Fears

The death verdict against ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi has drawn mixed response in the Middle East as well as fears over possible retaliatory attacks.

Zhao Jianfu has more.

Death Verdict on Morsi Draws Mixed Reactions and Fears 

The Cairo Criminal Court on Saturday handed down death sentences to Morsi and more than 100 other defendants in the "Wadi al-Natron jailbreak."

Morsi is accused of escaping prison with the assistance of domestic and foreign militants during the Jan. 25 uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

The ruling is the first death sentence against an Egyptian leader in modern history.

It is welcome among some Cairo citizens. People want a speedy trial for other Muslim Brotherhood members and hope this will help calm the country's political situation.

"It's good, we want the country to calm down and go back to normal. Those criminals must die."

"People need to calm down. And I wish the same to the rest of them, those who are spoiling things for the Egyptian people, we want every one of them to be tried in a speedy trial."

But just two hours after the ruling, three judges were shot dead in the restive Sinai Pininsula.

No groups have claimed responsibility for the attack, but it has raised fears that judges will be the new targets for militants, after soldiers and policemen.

Meanwhile, the pro-Morsi National Coalition to Support Legitimacy has urged for "a revolutionary wave that lasts until July 3" - the day on which Morsi was overthrown.

Outside Egypt, the sentence also sparked condemnations.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized Egypt for returning to the "old Egypt" by rolling back democracy.

"Egypt is going back to old Egypt. You know what an old Egypt was like, right? You know it from history books, right? (Egypt is) going back there (to those times)."

Erdogan also accused western nations of not speaking out against Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who ousted Morsi two years ago, or against death sentences to Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Hamas has condemned the sentence against Morsi.

"The movement considers this a regrettable, shocking and an invalid decision because it's based on wrong, untrue information, such as accusing some Palestinian martyrs who died before the Egyptian revolution (in 2011) and also accusing some Palestinian prisoners who are in occupation in (Israeli) jails."

Hamas is the Palestinian chapter of the Brotherhood and its leaders enjoyed close relations with Morsi during his year in office.

The Jordanian branch of Muslim Brotherhood - The Islamic Action Front Party - criticized Egypt's leadership as "a dictatorship full of sickness."

"This ruling tells us we should consider Egypt as living in a real crisis. This crisis is linked to this regime's chokehold on the country. This crisis is strangling the people living in Egypt. It is a bad situation for security, a bad situation for religion, and a bad situation for society."

Saturday's verdict is the second against Morsi. He was sentenced last month by the same court to 20 years in jail over ordering the arrest and torture of protesters in 2012.

Morsi is also facing charges in an espionage case that led to death penalties against 16 Muslim Brotherhood leaders.

The death verdict has been referred to the nation's top Muslim theologian, or mufti, for a non-binding opinion.

The final verdict will be announced on June 2.

Morsi's lawyer is vowing to "exert every possible avenue for an appeal."

For CRI, I'm Zhao Jianfu.