Former Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi has been sentenced to death for his role in a jail break in 2011 along with 105 other members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

An Egyptian court read the verdict today while Mursi pumped his fists in the air as he sat alongside other defendants in a courtroom cage.

As the country's first democratically elected president, he began drawing criticism while in office for granting himself additional powers and for imposing the Muslim Brotherhood's conservative brand of Islam.

Mursi was ousted by the army in July 2013 following massive demonstrations.

His supporters saw the ouster as a coup while regime sympathizers believe his removal saved Egypt from sliding into a failed state.

His case, like any capital sentence, will be referred to Egypt's top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for any opinion before any executions can take place.