CAIRO, Aug 15 (Aswat Masriya) - The lawyer of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi challenged on Saturday a death sentence and a life in prison sentence handed to the former president.

A Cairo court sentenced Mursi to death in June after being accused of escaping the Wadi al-Natroun prison during the January 2011 uprising.

The same court sentenced him to life in prison on the same day for espionage charges. Both sentences handed to the former president can be appealed. 

Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud, Muslim Brotherhood member and one of the lawyers representing Mursi said some of the reasons provided in the appeals include "insufficiency of evidence" and prejudice to defendants' right to defence. 

The appeals and reasons behind them were handed to the Court of Cassation, he said. They were presented by the defence teams involved in the two cases on behalf of Mursi and other defendants in the trial, who attended the court sessions. 

The former president has repeatedly said that he does not recongnise the trials he faces.  

Mursi, who became Egypt's president in June 2012 after the first democratic elections in the country, was eventually ousted at the hands of the military following mass protests against his rule, after a year in power.

Since his removal in July 2013, Mursi has faced multiple charges in five trials.

The former president still faces charges in a separate espionage trial and for insulting the judiciary.