German newspapers criticise Egypt's mass death sentences

German newspapers condemned the mass death sentences handed down by the Egyptian Minya Criminal Court on Monday, dismissing them as politically motivated.

The Zuddeutsche Zeitung newspaper stated that the Egyptian regime returned to “old brutal methods” of dealing with opponents. It stressed that “no side will emerge victorious from the current conflict in Egypt”, and that “Egypt will be the loser”. It concluded that the trials will lead to losing trust in the judiciary on the long run, which would not be conducive to stability in the country.

Similarly, the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper pointed out that in “Sisi’s Egypt, justice does not serve the law, but the regime and its new ruler.”

Furthermore, the daily newspaper Die Tagezeitung said that the Egyptian judiciary is the one that should stand trial: “In fact, the Egyptian judiciary itself should stand trial as a defendant because it neglects the [crimes] of the rulers and the security apparatus.” The newspaper noted that no court has so far prosecuted the people responsible for the bloody dispersal of the Rabaa protest camp last August, and also those who killed protesters in the January 25 revolution.