Egypt: Court upholds death sentence against 3 for killing judge’s son

Egypt’s Court of Cassation yesterday upheld the death sentence against three people on charges of killing a judge’s son in the city of Mansoura in September 2014.

In July 2016, the Mansoura Criminal Court sentenced five people to death, two in absentia, on charges of killing the son of Judge Mahmoud Al-Sayyid Al-Murli, the former head of Mansoura Appeals Court.

The ruling was appealed in September 2016.

The defendants were accused of premeditated murder and joining an illegal group, in reference to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The victim was shot in August 2014 in his garage in Al-Jameia district of Mansoura city and died instantly.

Read: 14 Egyptians sentenced to death for allegedly killing soldier

The Court of Cassation’s verdict is final and cannot be challenged, however it must be ratified by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi who could also issue a presidential amnesty or commute the sentence.

According to human rights organisations in Egypt, since July 2013 nearly 2,441 cases of extrajudicial killings and 880 death sentences have been documented.