Morsi supporter executed, convicted of throwing men off roof

[DJKeefy]

Egypt executes Morsi supporter convicted of throwing men off roof.

An Alexandrian man convicted of throwing four people to their deaths from a rooftop during unrest in 2013 has been executed, becoming the first supporter of former president Mohamed Morsi to receive the death penalty since Morsi's ouster.

Mahmoud Hassan Abdel-Naby was hanged after exhausting all possible judicial appeals, an interior ministry statement said on Saturday.

Abdel-Naby was arrested in July 2013 after a video went viral showing him and a number of others throwing two young men from the rooftop of a building in Alexandria's Sidi Gaber district. The men, who were reportedly anti-Morsi protesters, had clashed with local supporters of the ousted president.

Abdel-Naby was shown in the video holding a black flag bearing the Islamic declaration of faith, a symbol usually deployed by supporters of Islamist militant groups.

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Sixty-two other people were charged in the case alongside Abdel-Nady, including five tried in absentia. They were convicted of murdering four people, and other charges including thuggery and violent behavior.

Abdel-Naby was sentenced to death after the grand mufti reviewed his case.

Another defendant in the case, Abdullah El-Ahmady, was also given the death penalty, but his sentence was reduced to life in prison upon the grand mufti's counsel.

The other defendants in the case received sentences ranging from seven years to life in prison.

Last month, the Court of Cassation, Egypt's highest appeal court, upheld the death penalty handed to Abdel-Naby.

Morsi's ouster on 3 July 2013 was followed by violence across Egypt that saw clashes between his supporters, opponents and the police.

Egyptian courts have issued hundreds of death sentences against Morsi supporters in recent months on murder charges. Most of sentences were later reduced upon the counsel of the mufti. Defendants given death sentences that were not reduced have appealed.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/124652.aspx