EGYPT: 4 SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER KILLING BOY

March 19, 2010: an Egyptian court in al-Sharqiya in the northern Nile Delta sentenced four men to death by hanging for murdering a young boy, the Egyptian daily al-Masry al-Youm reported.
The court found that the four, from a village in the Nile Delta province of al-Sharqiya, had kidnapped Maher Abdel-Raziq's younger son after learning that he had received compensation for the death of his elder son in a 2006 ferry accident.
Abdel-Raziq, an official in the telephone authority, used the money to build a mosque, an orphanage, and to pave a road in the village, the court heard.
Prosecutors said his generosity caught the attention of four neighbours, who then kidnapped his younger son and demanded a ransom of 200,000 Egyptian pounds (36,483 dollars) for his release.
The court ruled that the kidnappers then killed Abdel-Raziq's second son when he was unable to pay, al-Masry al-Youm reported.
The four may appeal the sentence.
The decision to execute the four men comes as the United Nations Human Rights Council called on Egypt to establish a moratorium on the death penalty for the immediate future in order to review the use of capital punishment in the country. (Sources: Bikyamasr.com, Middle East World News, 20/03/2010)