Cairo court confirms it cannot withdraw merits from ousted president Morsi

The appeals court of the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters rejected on Wednesday an appeal against a previous ruling, in which the court said it had no jurisdiction to withdraw national merits from Egypt's ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.   A lawsuit filed before the Court for Urgent Matters charged that Morsi did not achieve any military, scientific or national accomplishments to obtain the highest merits and orders of the state, and should therefore be stripped of the honours.    In February 2017, the Court for Urgent Matters ruled that it had no jurisdiction to rule over the matter.   Upon assuming office in August 2012, Morsi decorated himself with a set of the highest medals and merits of state by presidential decree.    The merits included the order of the Nile, the highest award provided in Egypt for exceptional services to the nation.   Based on these merits, Morsi is awarded thousands of Egyptian pounds on a monthly basis by law.   the former president, and member of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood group, was ousted on 3 July 2013 after nation-wide mass protests against his rule. He has been tried in several cases for wrongdoings during his time in office.   Morsi has received only one final verdict: a 20-year imprisonment handed down in October 2016 over the  Source: Ahram online