Badie and 14 MB leaders sentenced to life for Giza clashes

Supreme Guide of the ousted Muslim Brotherhood group Mohamed Badie and 14 other leaders were sentenced to life in prison by Giza Criminal Court on Monday, the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported.

The defendants are accused of killing five people and injuring 100 others after they plotted to organize protests in Bahr al-Azam Street in Giza on July 15 last year.

The convicted Brotherhood and Jama'a al-Islamiya leaders include Mohamed al-Beltagi, Essam al-Erian, Bassem Ouda, Assem Abdel Maguid and Safwat Hegazy, among others.

Investigations reportedly proved that these leaders met during the Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in to plan protests in Giza, following the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi. They allegedly incited violence, terrorism and pre-mediated murder, as well as forming an armed gang to terrorize citizens and vandalize public and private property.

Ouda was ordered to execute the alleged plan, according to the MENA, which resulted in fierce clashes between protesters and the area’s residents and shop owners.

Among the victims of the clashes was former military officer Ismail Ahmed Eid, who was reportedly passing by his car and stabbed to death after protesters determined his identity.

This is the third life sentence against Badie, after he was convicted previously for the Istiqama Mosque clashes and blocking Qalyoub road.

Minya Criminal Court also sentenced Badie to death along with 183 others on charges of killing a police officer in the southern city following clashes between police forces and pro-Brotherhood protesters.

This year, Egyptian judges have issued well over 1,200 death sentences against Brotherhood members, Morsi supporters and other opposition Islamists. Lawyers representing Brotherhood leaders say their clients were not given fair trials.