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20 sentenced to death by Egyptian court for killing policeman

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20 sentenced to death by Egyptian court for killing policeman

No less than 20 convicts have been slammed with death sentence by an Egyptian court for their role in the killing of a policeman in the violence that followed the military’s ousting of an Islamist president in 2013.

Reports say the sentence for others involved in the killing were changed to hefty prison terms in verdicts that can be appealed.

“The crimes the defendants are accused of were committed by a group charged with carrying them out,” said Judge Sherine Fahmy before reading out the verdict.

Read also: 30 people sentenced to death for their roles in murder of Egyptian prosecutor

“Some committed murder themselves, others stole, or burned, some guarded the road so the assailants could commit their crimes, and some blocked the roads to prevent help from coming, some incited citizens against the military and police using mosque speakers and microphones on the streets. If it were not for all of that, these crimes would not have been committed.”

The case involving 156 people who are on trial is known as the “Kerdasa incident” in reference to the pro-Muslim Brotherhood neighbourhood where the violence took place in the Giza province adjacent to Cairo.

Recalling the incident, Islamist gunmen fired rocket propelled grenades at a police station in Kerdasa on Aug. 14, 2013, and slit a policeman’s throat before burning the building down, hours after security forces violently dispersed two protest camps, killing hundreds.

 

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