Egypt Confirms Mass Death Sentences for Police Killings
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
An Egyptian court Monday confirmed death sentences against 183 men convicted of killing 13 policemen, in a verdict slammed as "outrageous" by rights group Amnesty International.
The verdict came as another court announced that deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi would stand trial on February 15 in an espionage case -- the fourth trial he is facing.
The policemen were killed in an attack on a police station in Kerdasa, a town on the outskirts of Cairo, on August 14, 2013.
The attack took place on the same day that security forces killed hundreds of demonstrators in clashes as they dismantled two massive protest camps in Cairo supporting Morsi.
The court had in December issued a preliminary verdict against 188 defendants in a mass trial, of whom two were acquitted on Monday while one, a minor, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Charges against the remaining two were dropped after the court found that they were dead.
Monday's verdict, which can be appealed, came after the initial sentences were sent to the grand mufti, the government's official interpreter of Islamic law, for ratification.
Since the army deposed Morsi on July 3, 2013, at least 1,400 people have been killed in a police crackdown on protests, mostly Islamists supporting the ousted leader.
Hundreds of his supporters have been sentenced to death in swift mass trials which the United Nations says were "unprecedented in recent history".
In a statement after Monday's verdict Amnesty International said the court's decision was "outrageous" and "an example of the bias of the Egyptian criminal justice system".
"Issuing mass death sentences whenever the case involves the killing of police officers now appears to be near-routine policy, regardless of facts and with no attempt to establish individual responsibility," said Amnesty's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
Rights groups and critics of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who ousted Morsi, say authorities are using the judiciary as an arm to repress any form of dissent, including from secular activists.
Morsi and several top leaders of his blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood are in custody and facing several trials on charges punishable by death.
02 February 2015, 14:18
22
never a bad word to say about Islamists who are chopping heads .
m14ers no longer hide their support for the headchoppers, hearteaters.
02 February 2015, 15:19
21
M14 are against political Islam whose outright support and initiator is Iran. Iran is pushing for political shiite islam everywhere possible: lebanon, syria, yemen, bahrein, saudi, afghanistan. When there are no grounds for shiite islam, they would still support political sunni islam as in ghaza, sudan and morsi egypt.
02 February 2015, 15:23
31
@FT. Just incredible what you are writing. M14 was begging for years and years to draw the borders with Syria. M14 has been begging so that no weapons are held outside the state institutions. M14 has been begging for years to reinforce state institutions and the state authority throughout the country. One cannot say the same about M8 who have been supporting the armement of pro syrian palestinians outside the camps, armed militias such as khizbollah and ansar el moukawama. M8 did draw a red line so that the army does not enter nahr el bared. M8 has been supporting the lawlessness of the actions of hizbollah on the airport road. the list is endless
02 February 2015, 15:51
00
always defending mass murders. bloodshed only draws more bloodshes. sentencing hundreds to death might not always be the answer.
02 February 2015, 16:18
11
Flamer, you have some messed up logic. Just because a group headed the government doesn't mean they had default power. Don't dodge the point you coward.
Your precious Aoun and his houthi allies have weakened every state institution there is.
02 February 2015, 19:50
00
@FT, true M14 was in the government; when it wanted to forbid the private and illegal telecom network of hizbollah, you know what happened. when M14 and the government was negotiating the disarmament of palestinians outside the camps (i.e. FPLP the allies of terrorist Hizbollah and Syrian regime) during the national dialogue sessions, hizbollah refused arguing that those palestinians weapons are a defense line for the arms of the so called f..... resistance
02 February 2015, 15:47
21
Obviously we have the supporters of dictatorship here as well. The motto: partner with butchers; houthis come first.
