In its latest reprisals against the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt has sentenced ex-President Mohamed Morsi to death — and executed a man for a crime that took place while he was in jail.
Morsi was president for just over a year when he was ousted in a 2013 military coup. He was recently sentenced with 20 years’ imprisonment on charges related to a 2012 incident in which 10 people died in clashes during a protest against Morsi. (RELATED: Egypt Sentences Deposed President Morsi To 20 Years)
The death sentence, also the sentence 100 other defendants on Saturday, was linked to the Muslim Brotherhood members’ escape from Egyptian prisons during the 2011 revolution that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Any charge for execution must be cleared by Egypt’s top Islamic judge, the Grand Mufti. Reuters reports that a verdict from the mufti is expected by June 2.
Egypt executed another six Islamists Sunday for participating in a March 2014 attack by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the militant group in the desert of the Sinai Peninsula which claims links to Islamic State. But one prisoner, Hany Amer, was in prison in December 2013 — that is, months before the alleged attack — according to statements by his lawyers and family as quoted in The Guardian.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also both report that the confessions of Amer and the other five condemned were obtained under torture, with techniques including electrocution and beating.
Since Morsi was deposed, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi’s government has faced accusations of returning to the heavy-handed techniques of the Mubarak era. So far, Sisi’s government has executed hundreds of dissidents, mostly on national security charges. (RELATED: ‘Reformed’ Egypt Will Still Bust You For Blasphemy)
In another security-minded move, on Saturday an Egyptian court banned the “hardcore” soccer fan clubs known as Ultras. Dozens of members of one such club died in clashes with police earlier this year.
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.