Egypt's Supreme constitutional Court Orders 683 Islamists To Be Executed Monday April 28,2014

The Egypt Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo on Monday April 28,2014 has condemned the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and 682 of his supporters to death, a year after the Islamist group was ousted from power in a military coup.

Mohamed Badie, the Brotherhood's general guide, and his fellow defendants faced charges over an attack on a police station in Minya in 2013 in which a policeman was killed.

If confirmed by Egypt's Grand Mufti, it would make him the most senior Brotherhood figure sentenced to death since one of the group's leading ideologues, Sayed Qutb, was sentenced and executed in 1966. 

The decision sparked hysteria outside the court as several women fainted upon hearing news of the verdicts, while others wailed: 'Why? This is unfair!' 

But after sentencing Badie and his followers, the judge then overturned the death penalties of another 492 Muslim Brotherhood members, jailing them for life instead.They were among 529 men sentenced to death in March in one of a series of mass trials that have been widely condemned by human rights campaigners in and out of the country. The other 37 convicts from those proceedings were told they would remain on death row.


After MondayApril 28,2014 ruling, which followed a single session in the case held last month, Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division, said the defendants were not given the chance to properly defend themselves. The proceedings went on without the judge even verifying that the defendants were present

According to a judicial official who oversaw the investigation in the case, evidence presented in the trial consisted mostly of footage of the defendants showing them attacking and looting a police station in Cairo and setting fire to several government buildings. The defendants faced nearly 14 charges, five of them punishable by death, said the official.
'This is a public opinion case, there must be a swift, deterrent punishment,' said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. 'Yes, the verdict is very harsh, the number of people on trial is shocking, but it's proportional to the crimes.'

The fact that the death sentences can be appealed provides little solace to hundreds of families that will go to sleep tonight facing the very real prospect that their loves ones could be executed without having an opportunity to present a case in court,' she said. There is no more serious violation of the most basic right of due process and the right to a fair trial than that.

Note

Monday's and the March trial are linked to deadly riots that erupted in Minya and elsewhere in Egypt after security forces violently disbanded sit-ins held by Brotherhood supporters in Cairo last August. Three policemen and a civilian were killed in those riots. Hundreds were killed as part of a sweeping campaign against supporters of former President Mohammed Morsi, ousted by the military last July. The removal of Morsi - a year after he was elected - came after millions demonstrated against his rule, demanding he step down for abuse of power. 
Egypt's interim, military-backed government has branded the Brotherhood a terrorist group, a claim it denies.
Some 16,000 people have been arrested since the military ousted Morsi last July, including most of the group's top leaders. Large numbers of pro-Morsi protesters have also been rounded up and detained by police.