CAIRO: An Egyptian court on Monday issued a death penalty to 529 supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi on charges of murder and inciting violence, now Egypt’s Grand Mufti will have to ratify the sentence before it can be carried out.
Only 153 of those sentenced are currently in custody, the rest were tried in absentia.
“The court has decided to sentence to death 529 defendants and 16 were acquitted,” lawyer Ahmed al-Sharif told a foreign news agency.
The Morsi supporters are charged with the murder of a deputy commander of the Matay district police station during the riots that followed the dispersal of the mass Rabaa sit-in last August. Other charges include violence, inciting murder, storming a police station, attacking persons and damaging public and private property.
According to government figures, a least 632 people were killed during the dispersal including eight police officers.
The 529 people who have been issued the death sentence are part of a larger group of 1,200 Muslim Brotherhood members who are currently on trial.
Since Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi was ousted in a coup on July 3 last year, Egypt’s interim government has been cracking down on the group and its members.
In a September court ruling, Egyptian authorities banned all activities by the Brotherhood and froze the organization’s assets.
