Reuters is reporting that an Egyptian court has sentenced more than 90 Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members to death in connection with the 2011 mass jailbreak at the center of previous court rulings. According to the report, this sentence includes the deposed President Mohamed Morsi, Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, and Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi sentenced in absentia:
An Egyptian court sentenced deposed President Mohamed Mursi to death on Tuesday over a mass jail break during the country’s 2011 uprising and issued sweeping punishments against the leadership of Egypt’s oldest Islamic group.
The general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, and four other Brotherhood leaders were also handed the death penalty. More than 90 others, including influential cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi, were sentenced to death in absentia.
The Brotherhood described the rulings as ‘null and void’ and called for a popular uprising on Friday.
The sentences were part of a crackdown launched after an army takeover stripped Mursi of power in 2013 following mass protests against his rule. Since his overthrow, Egyptian authorities have waged a crackdown on Islamists in which hundreds have been killed and thousands arrested.
The Islamist Mursi became Egypt’s first freely elected president after the downfall of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
Judge Shaaban el-Shami, said the Grand Mufti, Egypt’s top religious authority, had said in his opinion that the death sentence was permissible for the defendants who had been referred to him.”
Read the rest here.
The GMBDW has been reporting on the various sentences and death penalties issue by Egyptian courts against Muslim Brotherhood leaders This latest ruling appears to be a confirmation of the sentences that we reported in May. If there is anything notable about the above report it would appear to be the inclusion of Youssef Qaradawi. Meanwhile the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood website issued a statement condemning what it called the “final verdict” against Dr. Morsi and the others.
For a profile on Mohamed Morsi, go here.
For a profile on Mohamed Badie, go here.
For a profile on Youssef Qaradawi, go here.