Egypt sentences dead man to life in prison

The Egyptian judiciary is reported to have sentenced a man who has been dead for over six months to life in prison.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported that Ahmad Mohamed Awad Shuqayr, a young Egyptian man who graduated from the faculty of engineering at the University of Mansoura last year and was president of the Students Union there, received the “unusual sentence” earlier this month although he died in an accident in July, 2014.

Despite Ahmad’s dead, the site added, the Egyptian authorities included his name in several cases and issued several sentences against him.

According to the news site, Ahmad was referred to a military court on 25 December, along with other students as part of the “Mansoura medical school” case which dates back to 2013 when several students were detained in a police station and assaulted with sticks after an anti-regime protest.

Ahmad was sentenced to one month in prison and to pay a 200 Egyptian pound ($26) fine.

On 6 February Ahmad was sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia by a military court in Mansoura.

On 13 February, he was referred to a military court, along with other students who were arrested in April 2014, on alleged charges of rioting, protesting without a licence, disturbing the peace and belonging to a banned group.