Osama Morsi, one of Morsi's son and a lawyer, told Qatar-based satellite news network Al-Jazeera Mubashir Misr on Thursday that authorities turned down a request by his mother to again visit Morsi in prison. He said authorities are punishing his father over lawyers reading a smuggled statement from him at a televised news conference accusing the country's military chief of treason.
Morsi's statement sought to rally his supporters, who continue to hold scattered protests after a heavy security crackdown saw top Muslim Brotherhood leaders and rank-and-file members arrested. It also sought to challenge authorities as the Egyptian public grows increasingly disenchanted with Islamists.
A Brotherhood-led coalition has called for demonstrations Friday after prayers. Such protests have been going on for weeks, but it comes on the first Friday that there won't be a military-enforced 7 p.m. curfew over much of the country.
Thursday marked the expiration of a three-month state of emergency in Egypt and the nightly curfew. Authorities imposed it after security forces backed by bulldozers, snipers and armored vehicles forcefully dispersed two pro-Morsi protest camps Aug. 14, leaving more than 600 people dead and sparking days of unrest.
Egypt has been in turmoil since the ouster of longtime President Hosni Mubarak following an uprising in 2011.
