Egypt upholds death sentences in Sinai violence case

Egypt’s highest military appeals court has upheld the death sentence against two civilian defendants on charges of murder and committing acts of violence in the country’s North Sinai province in 2013, a legal source told the Anadolu Agency.

The ruling is final and may not be appealed, the source added.

In 2013, military prosecutors charged seven suspects after finding them guilty of attacking the Al-Gora checkpoint in the city of Arish, the largest city in the Egyptian province of North Sinai. Accusations included murdering Egyptian army personnel and possession of fire arms.

In 2015, a military criminal court sentenced two of the seven defendants to death and acquitted the other five.

The two who were sentenced appealed the ruling but the top military appeals court rejected their appeal and upheld their death sentence yesterday.

In line with Egyptian law, the ruling will be referred to the defence minister and then to the Egyptian president for approval, Anadolu reported. The sentence is executed within 14 days of its issuance if the defendants do not receive a presidential pardon.

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