2.55 PM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

Cairo court confirms death sentence for Badie

Published
By Agencies

A Cairo court confirmed death sentences for Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed die and 11 other defendants on Saturday, and jailed a US-Egyptian citizen for life over protest violence.

Judge Mohamed Nagy Shehata also sentenced to death two who have fled the country, and handed life terms to 23 detained defendants.

The defendants were accused of plotting unrest from their headquarters in a sprawling Cairo protest camp in the months after the military overthrew president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. 

Among those sentenced to life in prison was Mohamed Soltan, a US-Egyptian citizen who is on hunger strike. His father Salah Soltan was among the 11 detainees sentenced to death.

Soltan's family called for Mohamed's immediate release in a statement after the verdict, charging that there was no evidence against him

The sentencings can be appealed before the Court of Cassation, which has overturned dozens of other death sentences, including against Badie.

So far Egypt has executed one sentenced to death after Morsi's overthrow, following his conviction of involvement in the murder of a youth during violent protests in July 2013

Shehata, who has sentenced dozens to death in other cases, read out a Quranic verse that stipulates amputation and crucifixion for outlaws, before rendering his verdict on Saturday.

At a previous session, he had sought the opinion of the country's mufti, the Islamic legal authority, on the death sentences confirmed on Saturday.

The mufti has an advisory role under Egyptian law.