A court over the weekend confirmed the sentences for 183 militants, including their leader, Mohammed Badie.
An Egyptian court on Saturday, June 21, 2014, confirmed death sentences for 183 Moslem Brotherhood supporters accused of a 2013 attack on a police station, including Mohammed Badie, the leader of the banned group of deposed President Mohamed Mursi.
The verdict, delivered by a court in the town of Minya, south of Cairo, gave four of the 683 defendants sentences of 15-25 years in jail, while the rest were acquitted, the BBC reported. The defendants were accused of involvement in the murder and attempted murder of policemen in Minya Province on August 14, 2013, the day police killed hundreds of Moslem Brotherhood supporters in clashes in the capital, Cairo. They were protesting the overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi in July 2013 by the military.
Outside the court compound, about 200 people, mostly relatives of defendants who were freed, gathered to celebrate the ruling. There was no immediate reaction on the ruling from the Moslem Brotherhood, whose members are either in jail or on the run. The Brotherhood is Egypt’s oldest, most organised and successful political group.
Observers said it was the largest confirmed mass death sentence to be passed in Egypt in recent times. The verdicts and the speed at which the initial trial was handled drew widespread criticism from human rights groups. The trial judge, Sa'ed Youssef Sabri, has a draconian reputation, and is known as al-Jazzar, ‘the butcher.’
Initially, Judge Youssef sentenced some 683 people to death over the attack, then, sent the case to Egypt’s Grand Mufti, the country’s top spiritual leader. The Mufti offered his opinion, then, sent the case back to Youssef to confirm his sentence. Lawyers for the accused said they planned to appeal.
