Egyptian court sentences six to death for killing of policemen

Egyptian court sentences six to death for killing of policemen
An Egyptian criminal court has sentenced six alleged Muslim Brotherhood members to death for the killing of two policemen in 2016
2 min read
30 September, 2020
Hundreds of suspected Islamists have been convicted in Egyptian trials condemned by rights groups [Getty]

An Egyptian criminal court on Wednesday sentenced six people allegedly belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group to death for the 2016 killing of two policemen, a judicial source said.

The court also handed down sentences of up to 10 years in jail to seven others in the case, in which two policemen were killed in the north-eastern province of Sharqiya and their guns stolen.

Five of those sentenced to death were tried in absentia while one appeared in court in Zagazig, the capital of Sharqiya.

The prosecution alleged that all 13 belonged to a Muslim Brotherhood cell in the province, located near Cairo.

Read also: For dissidents, Egypt has crossed a chilling new threshold

Charges against the defendants included murder, joining a terror group, attempting to overthrow the government and fomenting chaos.

Authorities in Egypt outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist political movement, after the 2013 military coup against Egypt’s first democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi, who hailed from the organisation.

Under the rule of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who came to power following the coup, hundreds of suspected Islamists and other dissidents have been convicted in mass trials that rights groups have slammed as unfair, with dozens executed in recent years.

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