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Egypt executes 4 people over nightclub arson attack

October 29, 2020 at 2:14 pm

An Egyptian courtroom in Cairo, Egypt on 8 September 2018 [MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/ Images]

Egyptian prison authorities yesterday sentenced four over the torching of a nightclub in the Agouza neighbourhood located in the country’s western province of Giza.

Security sources told the media that the ruling was carried out by the Giza Criminal Court, adding that it was made against “Mohamed Emad Mohamed, Mohamed Abdelrahaman Zaki, Mohamed Gamal and Mohamed Saeed.”

The case dates back to late 2018, when the defendants burned the nightclub, dubbed Bar Al-Sayyed, acting out revenge against the owners who had evicted them from the club. The attack left 17 people dead, most of whom were workers.

In June 2019, the Court of Cassation – Egypt’s highest appeals court – upheld the Giza court’s ruling, making it a final non-appealable verdict.

Egypt ranks fifth globally in the number of executions carried out by the state, according to Amnesty International, with at least 32 defendants killed in this manner in 2019.

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