Egyptian court sentences 75 to death over 2013 clashes

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An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced to death 75 people, including Muslim Brotherhood leaders, for their role in the deadly clashes in 2013, in the country’s largest single case of capital punishment convictions.

The case has now been referred to Egypt’s top religious authority, the grand mufti, who is required by law to be consulted on death sentence cases. Those convicted still have the right to appeal.

They were among more than 700 people accused or convicted of illegal protest or murder over a 2013 sit-in that ended in the deaths of hundreds of Brotherhood supporters and dozens of police when security forces broke it up violently.

Senior Brotherhood members Mohamed el-Baltagui, Issam al-Aryan and Safwat Hijazi were in the dock, while 31 others were tried in absentia.

Also on trial was prominent photojournalist Mahmud Abu Zeid, widely known as Shawkan, who in May received UNESCO's Press Freedom Prize. The court postponed a verdict on his and other cases.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (2nd-R) awards a cadet during the graduation ceremony of new officers at the army academy in Cairo, July 22, 2018. /VCG Photo

The dispersal of the sit-in at Rabaa Adawiya square in August 2013 came weeks after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, then military chief, ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi after protests against Brotherhood rule.

Egypt's courts have since sentenced to death or lengthy jail terms hundreds of people, including Morsi and several leaders of his Brotherhood movement.

Many have appealed and won retrials but 26 executions have been carried out.

The final sentencing in the latest case is expected on September 8, after the Mufti has given his ruling, judicial sources said.

Sisi's supporters say harsh measures are needed to ensure the stability needed to revive Egypt's battered economy after the turmoil unleashed by the 2011 unrest that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters