Zawahiri acquitted, 10 other Islamists sentenced to death

The Cairo Criminal Court acquitted Egyptia Islamic Jihad leader Mohamed al-Zawahiri in what is known as the “Zawahiri cell” case on Thursday.

The court sentenced 10 people to death in the same case, reported the state-owned Al-Ahram. Thirty-two others were sentenced to life imprisonment, while 18 were sentenced to fifteen years in prison as well, reported the privately owned Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Zawahiri is the brother of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and was arrested in Cairo in August, 2013. He was charged of organizing terrorist activities linked to Al-Qaeda.

He was also accused of exploiting political instability in Egypt and of reestablishing a terrorist network with Al-Qaeda while former President Mohamed Morsi was in power between 2012 and 2013.

The case includes 68 defendants, all of whom are accused of establishing and running a terrorist organization linked to Al-Qaeda that targeted state facilities, security forces and Coptic citizens. They are also charged with spreading chaos and endangering national security.

While the court acquitted Zawahiri, Al-Ahram reported that the court also referred him to the public prosecution for investigation in another case known as the “Mansoura sect” case. The privately owned Al-Wafd newspaper wrote that Zawahiri is accused of establishing a terrorist cell called the “Mansoura sect.”

Prior to his arrest, Zawahiri posted on his Facebook page that he was following the confrontations between the Muslim Brotherhood and the military and his group would intervene “at the right moment.”

Zawahiri previously spent 14 years in prison after being convicted on charges of involvement with the assassination of former President Anwar Sadat. He was released in 2011 and arrested again the following year, before being released and arrested most recently in 2013.