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EGYPT: SINAI MILITANTS' DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD
September 29, 2015: The terrorism department of an Egyptian criminal court upheld the ruling to sentence to death the Sinai-based militant Adel Habara and five others on charges of being members of a jihadi group.
The court ordered the release of one defendant named Mohamed Al-Maghawry.
The court sentenced the seven defendants to death in May 2015.
Two were present at court on Tuesday (September 29), including Habara, while the rest were sentenced in absentia.
Tuesday's verdict came following an appeal by two defendants.
The court sent its preliminary death sentence against the defendants to the country's Grand Mufti on 24 February. The senior Muslim cleric is required by Egyptian law to give a consultative, and he approved the sentence.
Meanwhile, the defendants have the right to appeal for the second time at the Court of Cassation against the death sentence.
If that appeal is accepted, the Court of Cassation will be in charge of the trial.
The prosecution charged the convicted of "joining a jihadi group that aims to overthrow the government and target the army and police, possessing explosives, having connections with the Islamic State group, and receiving funds from foreign parties to achieve this goal."
Habara and the other defendants were arrested in Egypt's Sharqiya governorate, northeast of Cairo, in September 2013 in possession of ammunition and explosive devices.
This is the second death sentence that the Sinai militant Habara has received. (Sources: Ahram Online, 29 September 2015)
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