Former minister critical of government's treatment of Morsi

(5 May 2016) LEAD IN:
A former Egyptian government minister has criticised the authorities' treatment of former president Mohammed Morsi.
Yehia Hamed served in Morsi's cabinet, who is on trial for espionage.

STORY-LINE:
Egypt's former Minister of Investment Yehia Hamed has been in exile here in Istanbul since 2014.
He served in Mohammed Morsi's government before the president was ousted in the summer of 2013.
Morsi is on trial for espionage, but an Egyptian court has postponed the verdict until May 7.
Prosecutors alleged that Morsi conspired with the other defendants to leak secret state documents to Qatar during his turbulent year in office.
But Hamed says the case is an example of the authorities going after the opposition.
"Now in prison we have more than 50,000 in prison from different (political) colours. Dr Morsi is one of them, he is a symbol of our revolution, he is a symbol for legitimacy," he says.
He accuses the country's army generals of "trying to penalise" the ideals of the uprising.
Hamed warns that poor treatment of prisoners is likely to radicalise people towards militant groups like the Islamic State.
In 2013 tens of thousands of Egyptians protested against Mohammed Morsi, and the Muslim Brotherhood was overthrown by Sissi in June of that year.
Since then, the Brotherhood has been accused of links to terrorism by the current Egyptian government, and similar files had been opened in the United Kingdom and the USA.
However, the former Morsi adviser says his party is moderate, democratic and has the support of the Egyptian voters.
He fears that if Egypt's political situation continues to deteriorate, Europe can expect a new wave of refugees.
"We need to stop this, we need to make sure that our country is safe, our country is progressive, and this cannot happen unless we have a democratic system, not a fascist system or a military system in Egypt," Hamed says.
The former Vodaphone executive runs different businesses in Istanbul, including a digital media outlet called Middle East Observer.
He also volunteers for the Muslim Brotherhood, officially known as the Freedom and Justice Party.
Hamed communicates fluently in Turkish with locals and meets with Turkish officials and think tank representatives in the city and around the region.
He claims his homeland is failing economically, despite billions of dollars in aid from foreign countries.
"Not one single big successful project has been introduced to Egypt during the past three years," he complains.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...