Luxor4u

Egypt sentences Mohamed Morsi to death

Verdict against former president sent to Grand Mufti for confirmation after he is convicted for 2011 mass prison break.

16 May 2015 11:17 GMT

An Egypt court has sentenced former President Mohamed Morsi to death for a mass prison break in 2011.

The court ruled on Saturday that the sentencing of Morsi and 105 others will be referred to the Grand Mufti, the highest religious authority in Egypt, for confirmation.

Many of those sentenced were tried in absentia, including Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an influential Islamic scholar based in Qatar.

The court will pronounce its final decision on June 2.
The judiciary is doing its part to cement a new political reality in Egypt, one that seeks to silence all dissent and restore the full strength of the authoritarian system that was in place for decades
Abdullah al-Arian, Georgetown University
Morsi, who was overthrown by the army in 2013 amid mass protests against his government, was spared the death sentence in the first of two trials that concluded on Thursday, in which the court advised death sentences for 16 defendants on espionage charges.

They had been charged with colluding with foreign powers, the Palestinian group Hamas and Iran to destabilise Egypt.
Responding to the latest developments, Abdullah al-Arian, assistant professor of History at Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service in Qatar, told Al Jazeera the death sentences handed down today would "come as no surprise to anyone who has been following developments in Egypt over the past two years".

"With these highly politicized trials that contravene all standards of justice, the judiciary is doing its part to cement a new political reality in Egypt, one that seeks to silence all dissent and restore the full strength of the authoritarian system that was in place for decades," al-Arian said.

Egyptian authories have banned Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood since his overthrow and arrested thousands of his supporters.

Last month, an Egypt court sentenced Morsi and 12 other defendants to 20 years in prison for ordering the arrest and torture of protesters in clashes outside the presidential palace in December 2012.

The court acquitted the former president of murder charges that could have seen him face the death penalty.

Source: Associated Press

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/e ... 45111.html

As the saying goes, give someone enough rope...

Somehow I think the grand mufti Sheik Teieeb 'local boy hopefully will commute the sentence as it's a 'step to far. PR-wise…

Four Judges Killed by Terrorists in Egypt’s North Sinai

http://egyptianstreets.com/2015/05/16/f ... rth-sinai/

Gunmen opened fire on a vehicle in North Sinai’s al-Arish city leaving four prosecutors and a driver dead on Saturday, Egypt’s state television reported.

The vehicle was on its way to court when the attack occurred.

Police sources said the attack was carried out by militants belonging to the Sinai-based militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis.

The sources believe the attack came in response to a court decision earlier today to refer ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi to the Grand Mufti, a step that must be taken in Egypt’s court system ahead of issuing a death sentence.

Ansar is Egypt’s most notorious militant group and has claimed more responsibility for militant attacks across Egypt than any other group.

It changed its name to Sinai Province after pledging allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State fighters, last year.

Most of the group’s attacks are carried out in the north of the Sinai peninsula.

Qatat, all seems to be linked to Qatar. If Morsi is executed then it will just make another "hero of the revolution".

Who2 wrote:Somehow I think the grand mufti Sheik Teieeb 'local boy hopefully will commute the sentence as it's a 'step to far. PR-wise…

He may be willing to make an exception with this one without having to stretch the point. They say Morsi was quite a swinger in his younger days.

They say Morsi was quite a swinger in his younger days.

Sounds like Morsi is going to be a "swinger" in his older days too.

Not word one about this on any of the USA News media right now. Primary focus is the USA possibly taking out one of the upper ISIS leaders but nada about Morsi.

LovelyLadyLux wrote:

They say Morsi was quite a swinger in his younger days.

Sounds like Morsi is going to be a "swinger" in his older days too.

Egypt defends Judiciary Against International Condemnation of Morsi’s Death Sentence

May. 17, 2015 18:12

By Samar Samir

CAIRO: After another barrage of international criticism of Egypt’s mass death sentences, the Egyptians Foreign Ministry said Sunday “any negative sign towards the Egyptian judiciary is totally unacceptable officially and popularly.”

Human Rights organizations, the United Nations, U.S., Turkey, Tunisia, and Germany expressed their deep concern over the mass death sentences handed down to former Presinedt Mohamed Morsi and 105 others over charges of prison break during the 2011 uprising.

“The Foreign Ministry finds it inappropriate to comment on the Egyptian judiciary rulings as fully unacceptable interference in the state’s affairs,” the ministry said in a statement Sunday.

The statement called on countries that condemn Egypt’s judicial rulings to “care for their own internal affairs,” saying that some of these countries “witness flagrant violations against the most basic rules of democracy and human rights, including restriction over journalists, judges, and social media; different forms of racism against their own citizens; and inciting Xenophobia; in addition to that some government and non-government organizations have double standards and lack the most basic rules of objectivity.”

Amnesty International described the trials as “nothing but a charade cased on null and void procedures in a Saturday statement.

It called for Morsi’ immediate release or retrial with “full fair-trial guarantees,” saying “[t]he authorities should also drop the charges of escaping from prison in January 2011, as at the time Morsi was held in administrative detention, under emergency powers and without a judicial detention order.”

The organization tweeted that Morsi’s death penalty is “a reminder that capital punishment is NEVER the answer, whatever the crime.”

“Egypt judges [are] mere tools for settling political scores, [the] judiciary [is] one more institution people can’t believe or trust,” the Human Rights Watch Executive Director for Middle East and North Africa Sara Leah Whitson tweeted Saturday.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called on the Egyptian authorities to “avoid steps that could undermine peace, stability and the rule of law in the region” Anadolu Agency quoted as office.

“We are deeply concerned by yet another mass death sentence handed down by an Egyptian court to more than 100 defendants, including former President Morsi,” an anonymous official from the U.S. Department of State was quoted by Reuters Sunday.

The official noted that the U.S. is against mass death sentences “conducted in a manner that is inconsistent with Egypt’s international obligations and the rule of law.”

Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed in a statement his country’s rejection to the death penalty, anticipating that the Egyptian authorities would “act according to the law,” not to “political standards,” Deutsche Welle reported Saturday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement that the death sentence against Mosri is “a new disgrace in the period that elapsed since the military coup. The Verdict not only violates elected President Mr. Morsi[‘s] basic human rights, but will also not contribute in any way whatsoever to achieving a lasting societal peace and sustainable state of stability, which are most needed as a matter of utmost urgency in Egypt.”

“This unacceptable and dangerous process has to be stopped immediately as there is still time. I utter my feelings as a true friend of Egypt,” said the Turkish former Abdullah Gul on his Twitter account, adding the death sentences could bring Egypt a dark future.

Co-founder of the Ennahda Movement, the Muslim Brotherhood branch in Tunisia, Rachid Ghanouchi, voiced the group’s condemnation over the death penalties. He called for Morsi’s immediate release and for a national dialogue.

http://www.thecairopost.com/news/151143 ... h-sentence

Why is it anyone elses business how Egypt carry out their justice on criminals. All the above countries being outraged about another country who have laws in place, with levels of time in prison or death penalties in place, carrying out their own punishments. They should worry about the problems in their own countries and butt out of Egypts affairs.

"Justice" in Egypt seems to be dispensed with undue haste, even when there is no evidence and the accused are not present, or could not possibly have been at the scene of the crime.

But in other parts of the world justice is delayed at great cost to the innocent tax-payers.

It is a difficult act to balance!

I don't understand the Grand Mufti's role in all this, does he review the evidence or just judge whether the crime warrents the death penalty?

It has just reappeared on BBC breaking news:

Egypt court confirms death sentence for ex-President Mohammed Morsi over mass 2011 jailbreak http://bbc.in/1IGVUma

The linked post confirms that the Grand Mufti has made his ruling. But of course the verdict is still subject to appeal.

It also stated on the BBC yesterday that he had been given a life sentence for another crime. So, it beggars the question, will this new additional sentence turn out to be the shortest life sentence ever served.