Death sentence to 182 Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt confirmed

Judge Said Yusuf, the court of the Egyptian province of Minya, decided on Saturday to maintain the provisional sentence of death which he had issued against 183 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, including the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie. Instead, the judge acquitted 496 other people and commuted the death sentence of  four others to life imprisonment. Yusuf, nicknamed the Butcher for his harsh sentences, had sentenced 683 people to death penalty last April by the assault of the police station of the town of Adwa, which killed a police officer, a decision that has been fonfirmed Saturday.

The judge issued the verdict after receiving the opinion of the Mufti of the Republic, one of the highest religious authorities in the Arab country. According to Egyptian law, before issuing a death sentence, judges should seek the opinion of the Mufti, although it is not binding. The Saturday was the third hearing of the trial, and as above, only lasted about 15 minutes. Since its inception, this macro trial has been harshly criticized by organizations both national and international in finding that did not respect the minimum judicial guarantees human rights.

“This sentence should be overturned in the court of appeal, as they have violated basic standards of due process,” noted the court doors Sultan Hussein, lawyer for three of the defendants were acquitted. “Most of those sentenced had not attended the meeting, nor did the previous ones. In addition, several of the attorneys for the defendants were barred from entering the court, and the rest could not present our arguments in court, “he added.

Many of the defendants were tried in absentia, as they are fugitives from justice. However, those in custody were not transferred to the court. Among them include the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie. This is the first sign of the death penalty against Badie, who this week sentence he received another condemnation of the provisional capital punishment for incitement to violence, similar to the process of Minia charge, as there was in the village of Adwa the day when a mob stormed the police station.

The incident occurred in mid- August last year, just hours after security forces brutally evict a protest camp followers of Mohamed Morsi had erected in Cairo, the Islamist president who had been deposed in a coup the previous month. In response, Minia, one of the main strongholds of the Brotherhood, various police stations and churches were burned. The same judge, Said Yusuf, and issued another statement on the attacks in April, for which he was sentenced to the death penalty to 37 people after commutation to other 492 who were sent to death row in his tentative ruling.

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Posted by Jamshed Sindhu on Jun 22 2014. Filed under Latest News, Middle East. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.