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917 Egyptians sentenced to death since 2013 coup

October 11, 2017 at 2:14 pm

An execution is about to take place using the method of hanging [Patrick Feller/Flickr]

The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced eight people to death yesterday and 50 others to life in prison for their role in a case known as the storming of Helwan Police Station.

On 14 August 2013 protesters stormed Helwan Police Station, which led to the killing of three police officers and two civilians. The police station and 20 police cars were destroyed.

The same court issued a 10-year prison term against seven defendants and five years in prison against three others.

The defendants are accused of several charges including terrorism, premeditated murder, the attempted sabotage of public buildings and the destruction of police cars.

Read: The health of Qaradawi’s daughter deteriorates behind bars in Egypt

The Giza Criminal Court referred earlier this week 13 people’s cases to the country’s Grand Mufti in preparation for their execution.

Former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and co-founder of the Nahdha party, Ibrahim Al-Zaafarani, said that the number of Egyptians sentenced to death since the July 2013 coup has reached 917 cases.

Al-Zaafarani said in a press statement that 16 Egyptians are waiting to be hung whilst eight people have already been executed.

Read: Impending executions, mass trials: Egypt’s corrupt judiciary

According to Al-Zaafarani  nearly 640 Egyptians have died in prison as a result of torture and medical negligence while the number of those who have been extrajudicially executed has reached nearly 300 people.

A report by the UK based Arab Organisation for Human Rights on human rights violations in Egypt during the third quarter of 2017 said that Egyptian courts have issued death sentences against 74 people.