Egypt Shocks the World With Plan for Mass Execution of Over 500 Muslim Brothers
Among Middle Eastern countries, the most execution happy is Iran, with over 300 a year. With just one trial, Egypt has made itself more Draconian than Iran.
Muslim Brothers celebrate the 2012 victory of Mohamed Morsi as Egyptian president. Jonathan Rashad (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
This post originally ran on Juan Cole’s Web page.
An Egyptian court in the provincial center of El Minya on Monday shocked the world by sentencing 528 persons to death in the killing of a policeman and engaging in vandalism last August. Only 147 of the suspects are actually in custody. The rest were sentenced in absentia.
The accused were seen as having resorted to violence in August after the military used brutal methods to clear the area in front of the Rabi`a al-Adawiyyah Mosque in Nasr City, Cairo, of Muslim Brotherhood protesters. Several hundred were killed. The Egyptian government maintains that they were behaving violently, going on a kidnapping and murder spree. The Brotherhood activists had been complaining about the July 3, 2013, military coup, which deposed and jailed President Muhammad Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president. Morsi was seen as moving the pieces in place for establishment of a one-party fundamentalist state, against which activist youth demonstrated with a “day of rage.”
Among Middle Eastern countries, the most execution happy is Iran, with over 300 a year. With just one trial, Egypt has made itself more Draconian than Iran.
The procedure of the trial was criticized, insofar as the court was only in session twice and one of those meetings was Monday when sentencing occurred.
The verdict attracted criticism. The Strong Egypt Party of liberal Muslim Abdel Moneim Abou’l-Futouh (who broke with the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1990s over their hard line) said that it had lost confidence in the judiciary. Strong Egypt had supported the popular overthrow of Morsi but opposed military rule and joined the “Third Square” movement.
Amnesty International called the verdict “grotesque.”
Defending it is the Rebellion Youth Movement (Tamarrud), who said Americans should butt out and mind their own business. A knee-jerk anti-Americanism has characterized the movement since the announcement last summer that the Obama administration had suspended aid to Egypt because of the change of government.
The verdict will make more difficult’s current task of trying to convince Congress to renew aid to Egypt despite the change in government, which Obama has not called a “Coup.”
The verdict will be appealed. Although the death penalty is fairly common in Egypt, actual executions are far more rare.
——
Related video:
Euronews: “Fear of more violence in Egypt after landmark Brotherhood verdicts”
Your support matters…Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
Middle East
Israel is forging ahead with its all out assault on Rafah despite the concerns of world leaders and aid organizations.
Middle East
As the ruler of the most populous nation in the Arab world, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi should be concerned about the fallout of the ongoing Israel-Gaza war on his regime.
Editorial Cartoons
Editorial Cartoons
Editorial Cartoons
Politics
The lawmaker, who had been chairing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, denied the wide-ranging allegations in a statement Friday.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.