White House spokesman Josh Earnest stated the US is "deeply troubled" by what it called the "politically motivated" death sentence against former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, Reuters reports.
Morsi was sentenced to death by a Cairo court on Tuesday, alongside several other Muslim Brotherhood members, for charges of escaping from the Wadi al-Natroun prison.
The former president and 128 other defendants have been accused of collaborating with international bodies to escape prison during the January 2011 uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak.
Following the verdict announcement, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood issued a statement on its Facebook page calling for a "popular uprising."
"The Brotherhood calls on the honorable among this nation to participate in a popular uprising next Friday against the death sentences, detentions, kidnappings, and forced disappearances," the group said.
The court-ordered lawyer representing Egypt's former president Mohamed Morsi will appeal the death sentence.
