Egypt's Court of Cassation

EGYPT: DEATH PENALTY UPHELD FOR 12 BROTHERHOOD MEMBERS

June 15, 2021:

An Egyptian court on 14 June 2021 upheld death sentences for 12 Muslim Brotherhood members, concluding a trial linked to a 2013 mass killing by security forces at an Islamist sit-in, a judicial official said.
The ruling, which includes two senior Brotherhood leaders, effectively ends a case which started with over 600 defendants in the aftermath of the military's 2013 overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
Following Morsi's ouster the July amid mass protests against his rule, his Muslim Brotherhood supporters staged a massive sit-in at Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square in eastern Cairo to demand his return.
The following month, security forces raided the square and killed some 800 people in a single day.
Authorities said at the time that protesters were armed and the forced dispersal was a vital counter-terrorism measure.
It marked the start of a long crackdown against both Islamists and the secular opposition in Egypt.
Those condemned to death on 14 June were convicted of "arming criminal gangs which attacked residents and resisted policemen as well as possessing firearms ... ammunition... and bomb-making material," the court of cassation said in its ruling.
Other charges include "killing policemen... resisting authorities... and occupation and destruction of public property", it added.
Those condemned include senior Brotherhood figures Mohamed al-Beltagy and Safwat Hegazy, the judicial source said, adding that the rulings are final and cannot be appealed.
The court also reduced sentences for 31 other Brotherhood members, the official told AFP.
No Egyptian official has been tried over the killings.
In 2018, an Egyptian court sentenced 75 defendants in the trial to death and the rest to varying jail sentences, including 10 years for Morsi's son Osama.
Morsi was elected following Egypt's 2011 mass protests and ouster of veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak, but was toppled by the army led by now-President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Sisi's government outlawed the Brotherhood in late 2013 and has overseen a wide-ranging crackdown, jailing thousands of its supporters.
Morsi, who had been sentenced to death for his role in jailbreaks during the uprising against Mubarak, died in June 2019 after fainting in court.