CAIRO
The son of ousted President Mohamed Morsi said Wednesday that his father is still Egypt's legitimate president despite a recent court ruling sentencing him to 20 years in prison.
In an exclusive interview with The Anadolu Agency, Osama Morsi insisted that his father's return to power was not "daydreaming".
"My father will not change his position that he is the legitimate president of Egypt until the people who gave him power take it away from him by their own free will," Osama said.
On Tuesday, an Egyptian court slapped Morsi and 12 co-defendants with a 20-year jail term each for kidnapping and torturing protesters in 2012.
The sentences relate to clashes between supporters and opponents of Morsi outside the Ittihadiya presidential palace in 2012.
Although a total of 11 people – including eight Morsi supporters – were killed in the palace violence – the trial only addressed the death of one reporter and two anti-Morsi demonstrators.
Osama said his father believes that the rule of incumbent ruler Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi is about to come to an end.
"He [Morsi] believes that the revolution would come back on track soon," Osama told AA.
Morsi was elected Egypt's president after a popular uprising in 2011 ended the autocracy of longstanding President Hosni Mubarak.
Remaining only one year in power, Morsi was ousted by the military – led by al-Sisi – in July of 2013 after mass protests against his rule.
"President Morsi is still steadfast despite the court ruling," Osama said, adding that his family never recognized the trial.
Osama, a lawyer in his thirties, said that his family would not appeal the jail sentence against his father.
"President Morsi is preoccupied with bringing the revolution back on track," a defiant Osama said.
Since his ouster in mid-2013, Morsi has been slapped with numerous criminal charges, which he and his supporters insist are politically motivated.
Egyptian authorities have launched a fierce crackdown on supporters of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood, killing hundreds and detaining thousands.
In late 2013, Egyptian authorities designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a "terrorist" group.
