Egypt confirms 183 death sentences including Brotherhood Chief Saturday June 21,2014

An Egyptian court on Saturday June 21,2014 confirmed death sentences for 183 Islamists, including Muslim Brotherhood chief Mohamed Badie, a prosecutor said, after a speedy mass trial that sparked an international outcry.
The court in the central city of Minya had initially sentenced 683 people to death, but on Saturday it commuted death sentences of four to life in prison, including two women, and acquitted 496 other defendants.
The case springs from an attack on a police station in the town of Adwa near the southern city of Minya on 14 August in which one policeman and one civilian were killed. The attack was carried out in retaliation after police killed hundreds while dispersing a sprawling Cairo sit-in by Morsi supporters.
The death sentences sparked international condemnation and raised questions about the independence of the judiciary.
Mohammed Tosson, a representative of the defence team, said that 183 people were sentenced to death, four received life sentences and 496 were acquitted. Those sentenced to death include a Coptic Christian and a blind man, said another lawyer, Mohammed Abdel-Wahab.
The charges ranged from sabotage and terrorising civilians to murder.