Minya death sentence defendants to be retried
A Cairo court ordered on Saturday a retrial for 37 defendants sentenced to death for the murder of a police officer in Minya, during clashes following the Rabea and Nahda sit-in dispersals in August 2013.
The Cairo Court of Cassation reduced 429 of the sentences to life imprisonment and acquitted 17 others, the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported.
The defendants are among 529 alleged Muslim Brotherhood supporters who were initially handed death sentences last March by the Minya Criminal Court for killing police officer Mostafa al-Attar, attempting to kill two others, stealing weapons and releasing inmates.
The verdict stirred negative reactions from human rights organizations and lawyers. A statement by Amnesty International described it as a grotesque example of Egypt's selective judicial system.
In April last year, 683 defendants were handed the death penalty in a separate case for killing a police officer, acts of violence and the destruction of property. Of these death sentences, 183 were upheld and are currently subject to appeal.
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