Son of Morsi to RT: I fear for my father’s life

The leaders of the coup in Egypt are war criminals, detaining the lawfully elected president without charge and hiding him at a secret location, the ousted president’s son Osama Morsi told RT.

Osama Morsi spoke about his father and political changes in Egypt on RT’s SophieCo.

RT:Are you hiding? What exactly are you fearing?

Osama Morsi: I am not hiding. I’ve been among Egypt’s young revolutionaries since the 25th of January of 2011. Today these young people came to the country's squares to defend the democratic path of the revolution. I am one of those people defending the cause of the January revolution and its achievements. I am out there in the streets with the others. I think we have to keep the achievements of the January revolution. We need to stand for that cause which now has been threatened by those who organized this bloody coup in Egypt. The Presidency in Egypt is an institution that was established by the will of the people after the revolution. Today’s situation is not just the president’s problem. It’s a violation of people’s will, the constitution that the people voted for and it goes against the lawfully elected president. This can’t be justified. The Egyptian people can’t just be observers and those who organized the coup shouldn’t think this is over and they succeeded against the will of the people.

RT:Where is your father now? Do you know?

OM: My father is at some unknown location now. The leaders of this coup are war criminals. They detain the president without any charges, and he is the lawfully elected president who spoke the will of the people.  And now they are hiding him at some secret location. What can you expect from war criminals? They violated the cause of those who died in the name of the revolution and law. We still don’t know where my father is kept.

RT:Are you worried for his life? What do you think is going to happen to him?

OM: Military spokesman Ahmed Ali basically admits that they arrested the president. Such statements are a joke. He said that the president was detained for his own safety. And of this we say, don’t worry about the president’s safety. Let the president come out to the people and talk to them. You shouldn’t arrest him in this strange unconstitutional manner.

RT:Are you not scared for his life?

OM: As his son I am obviously worried about him and I fear for his life, but as a revolutionary I see him as our revolutionary president so I call him to stand strong, stay true to his ideas and not to give in to these war criminals. All of us, not just me, but our whole family supports him.

RT:You seem very close to you father in this whole process. How did your father not see this coup coming? There were signs. Egyptians wanted a more inclusive government, a more inclusive society and the army was warning Morsi.

OM: President Morsi ignored this coup because he recognized perfectly well the justice and the will of the Egyptian people is stronger than any tanks, stronger than the military coup and the criminals who staged it. The legitimate President of Egypt said that he believed in the common sense, the vision, the judgement of the Egyptian people. The president knew that the people all across the country would rise to disagree, and this is what we see happening now, mass revolutionary protest against the coup and against the people's will being ignored.

RT:According to the polls 59 % of the people think the country would have been better off with the military in power. Morsi does have a lot of supporters but in a very short period of time an overwhelming majority turned against him. It’s not about the military, it’s about the people.

OM: In a democracy such political differences and confrontations are normally settled through elections rather than tanks. Is there any true democracy where an army illegally deposes the president? The coup is actually a crime committed by the Egyptian military.

RT:Many believe the Muslim Brotherhood has failed not because of the religious factor, but because it didn’t have a political plan, an economic plan. Do you admit that your father made mistakes?

OM: I believe the only way to settle a political difference is through democratic general elections. Could a Russian, an American or even a British defense minister overthrow a democratically elected government just because there are opposition groups protesting on the streets? Egyptian revolution has will, and it came to pass because it was the people’s will. That will is still strong. We Egyptians made our choice; the people of Egypt elected the government.

RT:You have called your supporters to come out to the streets and fight, even if it leads to bloodshed. More people died in recent events than in the whole year under Morsi.

OM: This is entirely wrong. We represent the Egyptian people and we are defending our democratic choice and our votes. We are doing it through peaceful means only. Underline, peaceful means only. We are not threatening anyone and we don’t tolerate threats. The criminals that staged this coup are responsible for all the blood spilled on the streets, for disrespecting people’s will and for persecuting those who are just trying to peacefully defend their votes. The Egyptian revolution has been peaceful since day one. No one is threatening anyone. The ones who are responsible for the violence are the supporters of Mubarak regime who used the difficult times Egypt has been going through to stage a counter revolutionary coup. They destroyed our democracy. The Egyptian people know who opts for violence. The people see who supports democracy and who wants to rob them of it.

RT:As of now the Muslim Brotherhood is out of Egypt’s new de facto government. The Muslim Brotherhood refuses to cooperate. Is this noncooperation stands for a valid political strategy?

OM: The Muslim Brotherhood does not speak on behalf of all the Egyptian people. The Muslim Brotherhood only represents a certain part of the population. The Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t make decisions on behalf of the Egyptian people. They were not elected by the people, but president Morsi was.  Not only the Brotherhood but also the entire Egypt believes that the coup shouldn’t have happened in the first place. The new government shouldn’t have been imposed.

RT:To what end are you prepared to fight?

OM: The Egyptian people will not recognize the current government or the actions in took to ruin democracy. The Egyptian people will stand for its choice. Whatever it takes.

RT:But when it comes to the number of deaths, when will you say “enough”?

OM: you should ask this questions to those who orchestrated  this violent coup. Ask them when they are going to put an end to their crimes against Egyptians. How many more deaths will it take to stop this?

RT:It goes both ways.

OM: I am telling you to ask those leading the coup when will you stop killing Egyptian people? Don’t ask us when we are going to stop being killed. All of us decided to be ruled by our will. Now the Egyptian people are asking where my vote is. Where is democracy? Only the Egyptian people have the right to determine who is to rule their country. And it has to be determined via elections. The candidate who lost the elections will never be elected in the future. This is what we understand by democracy. The Egyptian people are not afraid of violence, murders or oppression that the rebels perpetrate. The Egyptian people are not afraid of the security forces.

RT:Was there a foreign factor in the coup?

OM: All I know is that it’s an antidemocratic coup, which leads Egypt away from the path of becoming a respected democratic nation.  When the Egyptian people staged a revolution in January of 2011, it wasn’t a revolution of beggars, nor the revolution of the hungry. It was a revolution accomplished by the people who are free, and those free people are the ones who are protesting against this unconstitutional, illegal and an undemocratic coup.

RT:The first thing the people are discussing, after the clashes, is what role does the United States play, and it’s very unclear. You might not know for sure, but what are your thoughts?

OM: The US policy has been serving only the American interests all the time. I don’t really care about that. I am not interested in the American situation. They supported many military coups, in Venezuela, in Egypt and some other countries, when it was beneficial to their country, which is a well-known fact.

RT:Talking about the situation in which you find yourself. Your father is deposed, you don’t know where he is, and there are clashes in the streets. Do you think your US citizenship is a hindrance or a help?

OM: Americans speak for democracy in the media, but in reality they don’t defend democratic principles. It’s very important for Egyptians not to import the democracy from the US or some other country. On January 25, 2011 the Egyptian people ruled to make independent decisions about the future of their country. Back then the US administration did not have a clear position on this. I have to clarify; the clashes are between the repressive security forces and peaceful protesters. You can’t use the term civil war in this situation. It is not a civil war between Egyptians.

RT:What I am asking is your US citizenship helping you or damaging you right now?

OM: I am an Egyptian citizen. I don’t have US citizenship. One of my sisters is a US citizen.

RT:How come Qatar has turned their back against you? They were your supporters.

OM: You can ask the leader of Qatar this question. I don’t really understand Qatar’s position. I only care about the will of the Egyptian people. That’s the main thing.

RT:Do you think that the Syrian scenario may repeat in Egypt?

OM: Absolutely not. Egyptians understand what is going on. The Egyptian army is the army of all the people. Egyptians understand it, we are well respected. The Egyptian army is respected too; it’s an army with a great history. The people understand the difference between the army and a few military commanders who organized the coup.