Egyptian top court on Tuesday removed 31 members and supporters of the currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group from the terrorist list over a case related to the deadly protests in 2014.

The Court of Cassation removed the 31 Brotherhood loyalists from the terror list over charges of involvement in the violent protests in Cairo’s Ain Shams district in early 2014 that left three citizens dead, including a journalist, a woman and a child, the official MENA news agency reported.

The 2014 protests erupted after then army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, now the newly reelected president, announced running for president a year after he ousted former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In the same case, Cairo Criminal Court sentenced in February 17 defendants to 25 years in jail, nine to 15 years, four to 10 years and two to seven years while acquitting 15 of the charges of committing acts of violence.

Since Mr Morsi’s ouster in early July 2013, Egypt has been facing a wave of terror attacks that have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers, as well as civilians.

A Sinai-based militant group affiliated with the regional terror group Islamic State has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian forces have killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested thousands of suspects during the country’s anti-terror war declared by al-Sisi following Morsi’s ouster. </s> CAIRO — Egypt on Wednesday sentenced 35 alleged Muslim Brotherhood members to life in prison for allegedly forming "terrorist cells" to attack security forces and state institutions.

The Sohag Criminal Court in central Egypt sentenced another 155 defendants to three to 15 years on similar charges, including plotting to kill public figures and security officials, and joining an outlawed group, a reference to the Brotherhood. The verdict can be appealed, and 124 suspects who remain at large will be re-tried once they are apprehended.

Also on Wednesday, an Egyptian military court sentenced four suspected Muslim Brotherhood members to life imprisonment on terror-related charges, a defense lawyer said. Two of the suspects were sentenced in absentia and they will be re-tried once they are apprehended, Khaled el-Masry told The Associated Press.

The court sentenced two others to 10 years each and acquitted 13, he said. The charges include plotting militant attacks against the security personnel and bombing malls in Cairo in addition to belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood group, he said.

The Brotherhood won a series of free elections after Egypt's 2011 uprising, and a senior Brotherhood figure, Mohammed Morsi, was elected president in 2012. A year later, the military overthrew Morsi amid mass protests against his rule. Authorities have since branded the Brotherhood a terrorist organization.

Egypt has for years struggled to contain an Islamic insurgency in the turbulent Sinai region. It has carried out military operations there that, it says, have killed hundreds of militants and soldiers. The country is also facing a growing number of attacks in its Western Desert, along the porous border with Libya that authorities contend is used by both militants and smugglers.

In February, Egypt launched a massive security operation in Sinai, the Nile Delta and the Western Desert to target "terrorist and criminal elements and organizations." </s> Egypt has sentenced 35 alleged Muslim Brotherhood members to life in prison for allegedly forming "terrorist cells" to attack security forces and state institutions.

The Sohag Criminal Court in central Egypt sentenced another 155 defendants to three to 15 years in prison on similar charges, including plotting to kill public figures and security officials, and joining an outlawed group, a reference to the Brotherhood.

Wednesday's verdict can be appealed, and 124 suspects who remain at large will be re-tried once they are apprehended.

The Brotherhood won a series of free elections after Egypt's 2011 uprising, and a senior Brotherhood figure, Mohammed Morsi, was elected president in 2012.

A year later, the military overthrew Morsi amid mass protests against his rule. Authorities have since branded the Brotherhood a terrorist organization. </s> A court in Egypt’s Cairo on Saturday sentenced 75 members and affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood to death in a mass trial of 739 people who had held protests in favour of former President Mohamed Morsi in 2013. All the accused were charged after authorities violently dispersed the protest at Rabaa al-Adawiya square in Cairo on August 14, 2013, killing hundreds.

The 75 sentenced to death face several charges, from murder and “incitement to break the law” to “membership of a banned group” and “being part of an illegal gathering”, The Guardian reported. The most prominent figures who were handed the death penalty were senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Essam el-Erian, politician Mohamed el-Beltagy, Salafi cleric Safwat Hegazy, former Youth Minister Osama Yassin and cleric Abdel-Rahman el-Barr.

The court also sentenced the Muslim Brotherhood’s supreme leader, Mohammed Badie, and 46 others to life imprisonment.

As many as 374 accused, mostly Morsi supporters, were sentenced to 15 years in detention. Osama Morsi, the son of the detained Mohamed Morsi and 21 others were jailed for 10 years. As many as 215 accused, including photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, were sentenced to five years in jail.

Rights group Amnesty International had earlier called the trial “grossly unfair” and “a grotesque parody of justice”. The 2013 Egyptian coup saw of the end of the Muslim Brotherhood’s government, and brought Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to power. </s> An Egyptian court has sentenced 75 prominent members and affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood to death, as part of a mass trial that includes 739 people charged after the violent dispersal of a protest camp in support of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

The majority of protesters who died in the dispersal at Rabaa al-Adawiya square in Cairo were pro-Morsi protesters and Brotherhood members and affiliates. They had staged a sit-in days before Morsi was ousted by Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in a military coup on 3 July 2013, and continued the protest until it was violently dispersed on 14 August 2013.



The 75 face the death penalty for a range of offences, from murder to “incitement to break the law”, membership of a banned group or being part of an illegal gathering.

The verdict, by judge Hassan Farid el-Shami, was announced on Saturday in Cairo’s heavily fortified Tora prison courthouse, in a trial Amnesty International has condemned as “a grotesque parody of justice”.

Among those who received death sentences were senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Essam el-Erian, politician Mohamed el-Beltagy, Salafi preacher Safwat Hegazy, former youth minister Osama Yassin and cleric Abdel-Rahman el-Barr.

The court also sentenced the group’s supreme leader, Mohammed Badie, in addition to 46 others, to life in prison.

Five defendants died during the legal process. A total of 374 defendants, mainly Morsi suppporters, were given 15 years in detention, while Osama Morsi, the son of the detained former president, as well as 21 others, were sentenced to 10 years.

The judge also sentenced 215 defendants, including photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, known as Shawkan, to five years, causing dozens of defendants in the soundproof cage to rejoice.

“He [Shawkan] already spent five years, which means he will get out,” lawyer Karim Abdel Rady wrote on Twitter, adding that despite the release Shawkan will be on probation for another five years.

“Assuming that they [Shawkan and the other 214 defendants] have not been sentenced in other cases or that they are not held in pre-trial detention in other cases, they should be released,” Amnesty International’s Egypt campaigner, Hussein Baoumi, told the Guardian.

“This raises an important point, which is the practice of prolonged pre-trial detention, which is so commonplace in the Egyptian legal system and effectively [renders] defendants in Egypt guilty until proven otherwise,” Baoumi added.

Several others as well as Shawkan have already spent five years in detention, two years of which were spent during the prosecution’s investigations, and all the verdicts can be appealed. Shawkan, who was arrested in 2013, went to cover the raid on the protest camp at Rabaa for the UK-based photo agency Demotix.

He was frequently pictured during the trial posing as though he was holding a camera in the defendants’ cage, an attempt to demonstrate to the world that Egypt had incarcerated a journalist for doing their job. Egypt is currently ranked 161 out of 180 countries for journalistic safety and freedom of the press by Reporters Without Borders.

The final verdict ended a prolonged period of pre-trial detention, long past the two-year legal limit in Egypt, amid a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood group as well as all political opposition to the rule of Sisi.

“The trial from the start lacked any standards of a fair trial. This is a classic example of why Egypt needs to abolish the death penalty,” said Baoumi.

Saturday’s case is one of dozens that were brought after the Rabaa massacre, with thousands of Brotherhood members and affiliates accused of committing acts of terrorism and violence.

Outside the courthouse, a female relative of former youth minister Osama Yassin, who was sentenced to death, said the verdicts were “absurd and unfair”. “They were the ones getting killed in Rabaa, yet they are the ones now being trialled and given death sentences.”

Baoumi said that the court had not approved all the requested witnesses. “The defence wanted to summon around 230-240 witnesses, but the court only approved 50-60 witnesses. He added that the “judge refused to admit into evidence several CDs that were were favourable to the defence”.

Human Rights Watch estimates that at least 817 people were killed on 14 August 2013, when Egyptian security forces attacked the camp at Rabaa al-Adawiya square in Cairo, in an act the watchdog labelled “likely crimes against humanity”. </s> CAIRO — Egypt’s chief prosecutor has referred 555 terror suspects to a military court on charges of joining a local affiliate of the Islamic State group.

Monday’s statement by the prosecutor says the suspects formed dozens of small militant cells and carried out 63 attacks against army and police forces in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.

It says only 216 of the 555 suspects are in custody.

Egypt has been battling Islamic militants for years, but the insurgency gathered steam and grew deadlier after the 2013 ouster by the military of Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist president whose year in office proved divisive.

In February, authorities launched a wide-scale operation in Sinai, the Nile Delta and the Western Desert to target “terrorist and criminal elements and organizations.” </s> An Egyptian court has sentenced three Muslim Brotherhood members to life in prison on terror-related charges.

The Zagazig criminal court, northeast of the capital Cairo, sentenced another 36 defendants to 10 years in prison on similar charges, including rioting, inciting violence against security forces and joining an outlawed group, a reference to the Brotherhood.

Wednesday's verdict can be appealed. The court also acquitted 14 people in the same case.

The Brotherhood won a series of free elections after Egypt's 2011 uprising, and a senior Brotherhood figure, Mohammed Morsi, was elected president in 2012.

A year later, the military overthrew Morsi amid mass protests against his rule. Since then, hundreds of Islamists, including Brotherhood members, have been sentenced to death.

Authorities have branded the Brotherhood a terrorist organization. </s> Egypt’s state-run media says a court has sentenced 75 people to death, including top figures of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, for their involvement in a 2013 sit-in.

Saturday’s decision in Cairo Criminal Court will now be referred to the Grand Mufti — the country’s top theological authority — for his non-binding opinion on the sentences. He usually approves the court’s decision.

Sentencing for more than 660 others was set for September 8, according to state-run Al-Ahram news website.

The case involves 739 defendants, including the Muslim Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie and photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid. Charges range from murder to damaging public property.

The 2013 sit-in supported former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi who was militarily ousted following mass protests against his divisive one-year rule. Morsi hailed from the Brotherhood. The sit-in was violently dispersed. </s> A court in Egypt has sentenced 75 people to death, including top figures of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, for their involvement in a 2013 sit-in, state-run media reported.

A court in Egypt has sentenced 75 people to death, including top figures of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, for their involvement in a 2013 sit-in, state-run media reported.

Saturday’s decision in Cairo Criminal Court will now be referred to the Grand Mufti – the country’s top theological authority – for his non-binding opinion on the sentences. He usually approves the court’s decision.

Sentencing for more than 660 others was set for September 8, according to the state-run Al-Ahram news website.

The case involves 739 defendants, including the Muslim Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie and photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid. Charges range from murder to damaging public property.

The 2013 sit-in supported former Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, who was militarily ousted following mass protests against his divisive one-year rule.
Cairo Criminal Court adds 2,833 Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters including ex-President Mohamed Morsi on an official list of terrorists for three years.