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CAIRO – An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced 75 people, including leaders of the illegal Muslim Brotherhood, to participate in a protest sit-in in Cairo in 2013 that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of protesters.
The Cairo Criminal Court was considering the case of 739 people accused of killing police officers, inciting violence and damaging property during the 2013 violence in Rabaa al-Adawiya, a Cairo square. Forty-seven people, including the spiritual leader of Muslim the Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The mass trial has been widely condemned by human rights organizations. Amnesty International has described it as a "travesty of grotesque justice".
Mahmoud Abu Zeid, a photojournalist known as Shawkan who was arrested for photographing anti-government protests, was sentenced to five years in prison. Since he has been detained since his arrest, the time spent in detention will count for his sentence and he must be released. He faces five years of probation, however.
Taher Abu Nasr, Mr. Abu Zeid's attorney, said he was not satisfied with the sentence but acknowledged that he "was expected".
The sit-in of August 2013 was organized by supporters of Mohammed Morsi, the first democratically elected Egyptian president, who had been ousted by the military a few weeks earlier. Clashes and gunfire broke out and at least 817 people were killed when security forces dispersed the demonstrations.
"These convictions were handed down in a shameless mass trial of more than 700 people and we strongly condemn today's verdict," Amnesty International said in a statement on Saturday.
"That not a single policeman has been brought to account for the killing of at least 900 people during the Rabaa and Nahda protests shows how ridiculous justice is," Rabaa added. al-Adawiya and another Cairo square.
On August 14, 2013, Mr. Abu Zeid was arrested along with two other journalists, one French and the other American, while he was covering clashes between military and Morsi's supporters. Foreign journalists were quickly released, but Abu Zeid was charged with possession of weapons, illegal assembly, murder and attempted murder.
An independent international jury chose him this year as winner of the prize The UNESCO / Guillermo Cano Press Freedom Prize, which honors a person, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the freedom of the press, especially in the face of danger.
The Egyptian government criticized the decision, as the Foreign Ministry reported that the photojournalist had been accused of "terrorism and criminal offenses".
"We warn against the politicization of UNESCO and its involvement in the implementation of the agenda of some countries, while moving away from its cultural mission," the ministry said. a statement.
