Egypt court sends Brotherhood chief, 13 others to death

An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced 14 people, including Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, to death for violence-related charges.

The court also slapped 25 defendants, including Egyptian-American activist Mohamed Sultan, with life sentences each on charges of forming what came to be known as the “Rabaa Operations Room” during a sit-in in support of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

The defendants were accused of “masterminding a plot to sow chaos and storm and set fire to police stations, state institutions, public and private property and churches.”

Prosecutors also accused the defendants of “coordinating with e-committees to disseminate doctored images of people killed and wounded protesters.”

Saturday’s verdicts are still subject to appeal.

Hundreds were killed when security forces violently dispersed two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya Square and Giza’s Nahda Square last year.

The dispersal came only a few weeks after Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected leader, was forcibly removed from office by the army following massive opposition demonstrations against his one-year presidency.

The Egyptian government then launched a sweeping crackdown on Morsi’s supporters, in which the Rabaa dispersal is widely seen as having been a turning point.