Ex-Egypt president Morsi is a 'martyr': Wife
Egypt's first democratically elected president died Monday during a court appearance
ISTANBUL
The wife of Egypt's former President Mohamed Morsi mourned her husband on Tuesday, describing him as a "martyr".
Morsi, Egypt's first freely-elected president, collapsed and died on Monday during a court appearance on "espionage" charges.
He was buried in eastern Cairo early Tuesday amid tight security in the presence of only his family members and lawyers.
"We consider my husband, President Mohamed Morsi as a martyr," the wife, Naglaa, said on Twitter.
She said the ex-president was prepared for burial at Tora prison's hospital in southern Cairo and the funeral prayer took place at the mosque of the same prison.
"Only his family was allowed to attend the funeral prayer and was buried in the graveyard of Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Nasr City [in eastern Cairo],"she said, adding that the authorities refused to bury Morsi in his hometown in the Nile Delta province of Sharqia.
The same statement was confirmed by Morsi's sons Ahmed and Abdullah as well as his lawyer Abdel-Monem Abdel-Maqsoud.
There was no statement from the Egyptian authorities on the circumstances of Morsi's burial.
With limited official international reaction, Turkey, Qatar, Malaysia and the UN offered condolences over Morsi's death with no official reaction from Egypt or Arab countries.
A leading member of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood group, Morsi won Egypt's first free presidential election in 2012.
Following only one year in office, however, he was ousted and imprisoned in a bloody military coup led by Egypt's then defense minister -- and current president -- Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
At the time of his death, Morsi faced a host of legal charges, which he, along with numerous human rights groups and independent observers, said were politically motivated.
