Egyptian court jails 102 Brotherhood supporters for 10 years

CAIRO: An Egyptian criminal court has sentenced 102 defendants it describes as Muslim Brotherhood supporters to 10 years in prison each on charges of violent rioting in a Cairo neighborhood and possession of weapons.

Egypt´s state news agency said the Saturday ruling puts the defendants under police surveillance for a period of five years after the end of their prison sentences. Two other defendants were jailed for seven years in the case.

The ruling is linked to demonstrations staged to protest the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi by the military in July.

Morsi´s ouster followed days of mass demonstrations demanding his resignation.

The prosecutors charged the defendants with gathering illegally with intent to inflict material and moral harm to others and public property, which led to one death. (AP)

102 Muslim Brotherhood supporters jailed for 10 years

An Egyptian criminal court on Saturday sentenced 102 defendants it describes as Muslim Brotherhood supporters to 10 years in prison each on charges of violent rioting in a Cairo neighbourhood and possession of weapons.

Egypt’s state news agency said the ruling puts the defendants under police surveillance for a period of five years after the end of their prison sentences. Two other defendants were jailed for seven years in the case.

The prosecutors charged the defendants with gathering illegally with intent to inflict material and moral harm to others and public property, which led to one death.

683 Muslim Brotherhood supporters sentenced to death

An Egyptian court has added yet another dimension to the ongoing crackdown against the supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsy by sentencing to death 683 backers of the Muslim Brotherhood, including the organisation’s Supreme Guide, Mohamed Badie.

A court in the city of Minya, found the defendants guilty of attacking a police station on August 14, 2013, which led to the killing of a police officer. The assault apparently followed the crackdown on two pro-Morsy encampments in Cairo that led to the deaths of at least 1,000 supporters of the deposed President.

The defendants were also found guilty of inciting and committing violence, rioting, and destroying public and private property. The Grand Mufti of the country must now ratify the verdict, before the sentences can be carried out. The final judgment will be passed on June 21, after the Grand Mufti has arrived at a conclusion.

On Monday, intervention by the Grand Mufti spared the lives of 492 people out of a group of 529 who had been sentenced to death by the same court in March. The Minya court pronounced that only 37 will now face capital punishment, while the rest will spend the remaining part of their lives in jail.

In the shadow of the court verdict, the interim Egyptian administration is engaged in hectic preparations for fresh Presidential elections next month in the hope of overriding the storm that has been stirred by its heavy crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters.

Seeking legitimacy, Field Marshall Abel Fattah El-Sisi — the mastermind behind Mr. Morsy’s exit — is standing in the two-day presidential elections that commence on May 26. Analysts say that there is little doubt that the former military chief will win the polls, where he has to contend with only one candidate — Hamdeen Sabahi, who had stood third in the elections that had brought Mr. Morsy to power. The deposed President’s supporters and pro-Brotherhood political parties have called for a boycott of the upcoming elections.

Egypt sentences 529 Mursi supporters to death

CAIRO: An Egyptian court on Monday sentenced to death 529 supporters of ousted President Mohammad Mursi in connection with an attack on a police station that killed a policeman, convicting them after only two sessions in a mass trial that raised an outcry from rights activists.

The verdicts are subject to appeal and would likely be overturned, rights lawyers said. But they said the swiftness and harshness of the rulings on such a large scale deepened concerns that Egypt’s courts have been politicised and that due process is being swept away amid a month-long crackdown on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood supporters since the military removed the president last summer.Monday’s verdicts by a court in the city of Minya were the first such mass trial to issue death sentences.

Operation supporters should be sent to battle Taliban: Sami

 

ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami chief and head of the Taliban negotiating team Maulana Samiul Haq has said that the entire nation is fed up with war and wanted peace, respite and harmony to prevail.
Addressing a ‘Dastarbandi’ ceremony in Abbottabad on Monday, Maulana Sami berated the so-called religious factions, liberal and secular lobbies, defence and political observers, analysts, and columnists on ‘Wwestern payroll’, urging an imminent military operation within Pakistan.

“All these fantasy weavers should be made a brigade and sent to fight a war against the Taliban so that they should be able to satisfy their ‘lust for war’; instead of bothering the brave Army soldiers being ruthlessly sacrificed in the line of duty,” he said.

Maulana Sami lauded the nation and rulers for understanding the sensitive nature of the situation, opting for the prudent path of dialogue. He also called on all “to also pray fervently for saving the Federation from all kinds of conspiracies and odds”.

Egypt sentences 529 Morsi supporters to death

CAIRO: A court in southern Egypt has convicted 529 supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, sentencing them to death on charges of murdering a policeman and attacking police.

The court in Minya issued its ruling on Monday after only two sessions in which the defendants´ lawyers complained they had no chance to present their case.

Those convicted are part of a group of 545 defendants on trial for the killing of a police officer, attempted killing of two others, attacking a police station and other acts of violence.

More than 150 suspects stood trial, the others were tried in absentia. Sixteen were acquitted.

The defendants were arrested after violent demonstrations that were a backlash for the police crackdown in August on pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo that killed hundreds of people. (AP