EGYPT: TERRORIST LEADER ASHMAWY, 36 OTHERS SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER 54 ASSASSINATIONS
February 2, 2020: A Cairo criminal court on 1st February 2020 handed preliminary death sentences to leading terrorist Hisham Ashmawy and 36 others in the case known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, convicting them of executing over 50 assassination attacks on policemen. The court referred the preliminary sentences to the grand mufti, which is a necessary, albeit non-binding, procedure before issuing a death sentence, as per the Egyptian penal code. The court is slayed to issue a verdict on 2 March. The court convicted the 37 defendants of carrying out 54 assassinations against policemen and citizens, most notably late policemen Mohamed Mabrouk, Mohamed Abu Shakra, Mohamed Said and others. The defendants were also convicted of bombing three security directorates, including Cairo Security Directorate in 2014, vandalising of 25 public and private institutions, including police headquarters, churches and mosques. This is the second death sentence handed to Ashmawy in recent months. (Sources: Ahram Online, 01/02/2020)
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