CAIRO — In a shocking verdict, both by Egyptian and international standards, Al-Minya Seventh District Judge Saeed Youssef sentenced 529 defendants to the death sentence, while freeing 17 others.
Those convicted will now have their sentences reviewed by the mufti, as is the law, in order for him to sign off on the executions or stay them. The defendants were accused of burning the Matay police station, killing a police officer and attempting to kill two others, seizing police weaponry and disrupting public order in the immediate aftermath of the dispersal of the Rab’aa sit-in in August 2013. Given that this is a first-level verdict and that most defendants were tried in absentia, the general understanding is that this verdict is anything but a done deal, while the final verdict is expected on April 28. Tomorrow, March 25, more than 600 defendants, including Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie, will stand trial on similar charges. Monday’s verdict is seen by many as a precursor to what's expected in the latter trial as well.