An Egyptian criminal court yesterday upheld a previous ruling that the 2012 election of Mohamed Morsi was fair, Egyptian news website Ahram Gate reported.

 Former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq filed a complaint alleging that the Egyptian Elections Committee rigged the outcome in Morsi’s favour.

Shafiq complained that some ballots were rigged in certain constituencies, but Judge Ahmed Khafagi told Al-Shorouk newspaper that there were no more than a few hundred questionable ballots and they were excluded from the count.

Morsi was Egypt’s first democratically elected president. After ruling the country for one year he was ousted in a military coup that was led by his defence minister Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. Al-Sisi is now the country’s president who rules with an iron fist. Since taking over power he has quashed people’s right to free speech and expression, banned protests and gatherings, and authorities have on numerous occasion been accused of human rights violations by rights activists.