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| Egypt sentences 683 to death in latest mass trial of dissidents | Egypt sentences 683 to death in latest mass trial of dissidents |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| MINYA, Egypt — An Egyptian court in the southern city of Minya sentenced 683 people to death Monday in the most recent of a series of mass trials that have alarmed the international community, nine months after a military coup ousted Egypt’s first democratically elected president. | |
| The ruling came one month after 529 people were sentenced to death in a similar mass trial in the same courtroom, and it coincided with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy’s visit to Washington to meet with Secretary of State John F. Kerry in an effort to smooth relations between the United States and one of its most significant Middle East allies. | The ruling came one month after 529 people were sentenced to death in a similar mass trial in the same courtroom, and it coincided with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy’s visit to Washington to meet with Secretary of State John F. Kerry in an effort to smooth relations between the United States and one of its most significant Middle East allies. |
| The defendants, all alleged supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, included Mohammed Badie, the “supreme guide” of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, which captured the lion’s share of votes in the country’s first democratic parliamentary and presidential elections in 2012. If the sentence is upheld, it would be the first execution order for a Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide in nearly six decades. | The defendants, all alleged supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, included Mohammed Badie, the “supreme guide” of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, which captured the lion’s share of votes in the country’s first democratic parliamentary and presidential elections in 2012. If the sentence is upheld, it would be the first execution order for a Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide in nearly six decades. |
| As in the earlier mass death sentencing, the most serious charge in Monday’s case was the killing of a single police officer in a nearby village during clashes between security forces and Morsi’s supporters across the nation last summer, after Egyptian security forces launched deadly raids on pro-Morsi protest camps in the capital. | As in the earlier mass death sentencing, the most serious charge in Monday’s case was the killing of a single police officer in a nearby village during clashes between security forces and Morsi’s supporters across the nation last summer, after Egyptian security forces launched deadly raids on pro-Morsi protest camps in the capital. |
| The defendants were barred from attending their own trial, which lasted only a few minutes, defense attorneys said. It was unclear what evidence the court had used to convict the men, who were described by families and defense attorneys as ordinary townspeople. | |
| London-based rights group Amnesty International called the verdict a “mockery of justice.” | |
| “Today’s decisions once again expose how arbitrary and selective Egypt’s criminal justice system has become,” Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement. “The court has displayed a complete contempt for the most basic principles of a fair trial.” | |
| Defense attorneys said they would appeal the verdict. But anger was palpable in Minya and the nearby village of Adwa, home to most of the 683. | |
| “It’s all going to hell — the judiciary and everything else,” said Mohamed Saber, who sells juice and cigarettes from a roadside stand near the courthouse in Minya, where police and soldiers stood guard Monday. “How can you sentence so many people for just one crime?” | |
| Egypt’s new military-backed government has increasingly cracked down on voices of dissent in the months since the coup, jailing tens of thousands of Islamist members of the now banned Muslim Brotherhood, as well as liberal democracy activists, journalists and university students. | Egypt’s new military-backed government has increasingly cracked down on voices of dissent in the months since the coup, jailing tens of thousands of Islamist members of the now banned Muslim Brotherhood, as well as liberal democracy activists, journalists and university students. |
| Also on Monday, an Egyptian court banned the April 6 Youth Movement, one of the foremost pro-democracy activist groups that rallied Egyptians to take to the streets in 2011 to call for the downfall of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. | Also on Monday, an Egyptian court banned the April 6 Youth Movement, one of the foremost pro-democracy activist groups that rallied Egyptians to take to the streets in 2011 to call for the downfall of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. |
| In recent months, the military-backed government and a pro-government local press have increasingly labeled the group traitors who are collaborating with foreign agents to destroy the country. Monday’s ruling, which can be appealed, came with the conviction that the group was distorting Egypt’s “image,” judicial authorities said. | In recent months, the military-backed government and a pro-government local press have increasingly labeled the group traitors who are collaborating with foreign agents to destroy the country. Monday’s ruling, which can be appealed, came with the conviction that the group was distorting Egypt’s “image,” judicial authorities said. |
| Late last year, a court sentenced two of the April 6 Youth Movement’s leaders, prominent liberal activists Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel, to three years in prison for violating a new law that effectively bans protesting. | Late last year, a court sentenced two of the April 6 Youth Movement’s leaders, prominent liberal activists Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel, to three years in prison for violating a new law that effectively bans protesting. |
| Of the 683 men sentenced on Monday, only 70 are currently in custody, said Khaled Koumi, a defense attorney on the case. None of the men were allowed to appear in court for their trial, which lasted two short hearings, Koumi said. | |
| “All we can do now is appeal,” he said, calling the verdict a “sham.” | “All we can do now is appeal,” he said, calling the verdict a “sham.” |
| In keeping with legal protocol, last month’s mass death sentences were handed to Egypt’s highest religious authority, known as the grand mufti, for review. On Monday, 37 of those sentences were upheld. The rest received commuted sentences of life imprisonment. | In keeping with legal protocol, last month’s mass death sentences were handed to Egypt’s highest religious authority, known as the grand mufti, for review. On Monday, 37 of those sentences were upheld. The rest received commuted sentences of life imprisonment. |
| Defense attorneys said neither they nor their clients were present in the courtroom to hear evidence in either case. | Defense attorneys said neither they nor their clients were present in the courtroom to hear evidence in either case. |
| Ahmed Shabeeb, a lawyer from the village of Matay, described their arrests and prosecution as arbitrary from the start. | |
| “Anybody who had any dealings with the Brotherhood was taken in,” said Shabeeb, who represents 30 of his fellow villagers who were sentenced to death last month. “If you greeted a Brotherhood member 10 years ago, you were arrested.” | |
| His clients, ranging in age from 17 to 60, are “doctors, businessmen and manual laborers,” among others, he said. One of his clients “wasn’t even in the country” when the events in question occurred, he said. | |
| The State Department and the European Union condemned last month’s mass death sentencing. | The State Department and the European Union condemned last month’s mass death sentencing. |
| Last week, the Obama administration said it would deliver 10 Apache helicopters to Egypt, marking a partial resumption of Washington’s annual $1.3 billion in military aid, which was suspended following last summer’s coup. | Last week, the Obama administration said it would deliver 10 Apache helicopters to Egypt, marking a partial resumption of Washington’s annual $1.3 billion in military aid, which was suspended following last summer’s coup. |
| Lara El Gibaly in Minya contributed to this report. |