An Egyptian court ruled a massive sentence Monday 24 March, declaring 529 Muslim Brotherhood members were to be sentenced to death. The ruling convicted all of them guilty of murder and other offenses in participation of a deadly event during the summer’s unrest after Morsi’s ouster.
Family members stood outside the courthouse screaming after the verdict – the biggest mass death sentence handed out in Egypt’s modern history, defence lawyers said.
Only sixteen of the entire group of 545 allegedly involved were found to be innocent. The trial was called for last summer’s “attacking a police station, the killing of one policeman, the attempted murder of two others, firing and seizing weapons from the police station.” It has to be understood that this ruling is not final and will be sent to Minya Criminal Court for the final verdict.
Backlash against the verdict came about in Egypt.
The Muslim Brotherhood described Monday’s decision as “shocking and unprecedented,” adding that the trial was “without due process” and “is inhumane and a clear violation of all norms of humane and legal justice.” The group said it would “take all legal actions to appeal the court ruling and defend basic rights of Egyptians.”
Human Rights Watch also condemned Monday’s decision. The international watchdog’s Executive Director for MENA Sarah Leah Whitson said the “sentence comes as the result of a judicial process that denied defendants the most basic due process rights.”
Abdul Hamid, a defense lawyer, says it was “unconstitutional and illegal.” Another defense lawyer involved in the case stated, “This is unprecedented; I have worked as a lawyer for 25 years. I have never seen a case that concludes after three days.”
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