Egyptian court sentences to death 75 people during the 2013 demonstration



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The accused, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood, were arrested and tried for participating in a sit-in at Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda squares in Cairo to protest the removal of Morsy, a former leader of the fraternity. the first democratically elected president of the country.

The month-long rally culminated with massive violence when Egyptian security forces – under the leadership of current president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi – attempted to whitewash thousands of protesters. armored personnel carriers and military bulldozers.

Government actions have been widely condemned by international rights organizations. According to a 2014 Human Rights Watch report, at least 817 people were killed in the violence.

The 75 defendants sentenced to death on Saturday are accused of "attacking citizens, resisting the authorities, destroying public buildings and firearms and Molotov". According to Ahram Online,

the convicts include Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and prominent members Essam El-Erian, Mohamed El-Beltagy and Wagdy Ghoneim, Ahram reported.

Government pursues 739 people for protests

Before the verdict can be finalized and death sentences are handed down, the Egyptian Penal Code requires the Grand Mufti, the country's main Islamic authority, to have a life sentence. he emits a religious opinion on the subject, according to Ahram. The opinion of the Grand Mufti is non-binding but rarely ignored.

Amnesty International tweeted Saturday about the case, noting that "no member of the security forces was held responsible for the violent dispersal of the Rabaa protest". In 2017, Najia Bounaim, director of campaigns for North Africa at Amnesty International, said: "The inability to bring to justice anyone who is a dark legacy, is that the Security forces believe that they will not be held responsible for human rights violations. "

A criminal court will deliver its final verdict on death sentences on September 8, Ahram reported, but defendants will have the right to appeal.

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