Egyptian court sentences 188 to death over attack on police station

[SoleSurvivor]

Egyptian court sentences 188 to death over attack on police station

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 03 December, 2014, 10:04pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 03 December, 2014, 10:04pm

Agence France-Presse in Cairo

A man protests the Mubarak decision. Photo: Reuters

An Egyptian court has condemned 188 people to death over a deadly attack on police, as the prosecution said it will appeal the acquittal of ex-president Hosni Mubarak over protester deaths.

The accused, of whom 143 are behind bars, were found guilty on Tuesday of taking part in an August 14, 2013 attack on a police station in Kerdassa, a village on the outskirts of Cairo, killing 13 policemen.

The attack took place on the day security forces violently dismantled two Cairo protest camps in Cairo backing ousted president Mohammed Mursi in an operation that led to clashes in which at least 700 lost their lives.

Death sentences in Egypt are subject to approval by the mufti, the country's highest Muslim religious authority. The verdict is to be confirmed or commuted on January 24.

Since the army deposed Mursi last year, at least 1,400 of his supporters have died in a crackdown on protests and hundreds sentenced to death in swift trials.

The UN human rights office said on Tuesday that Egypt must rein in its security forces and investigate rights abuses against protesters.

It said it was deeply concerned by "the seriously damaging lack of accountability for human rights violations committed by security forces in the context of demonstrations".

The sentences came as the public prosecutor's office said it would appeal a court decision to drop a murder charge against Mubarak over the deaths of protesters during the 2011 uprising that drove him from power.

"The prosecutor general has decided to appeal," a statement said, after a Cairo court on Saturday ordered the dropping of murder and corruption charges against Mubarak, who was forced to resign after three decades in power. "The ruling was marred by a legal flaw," the statement said, adding that the decision to appeal was "not influenced by disputes among political groups".

Mubarak is serving a three-year sentence in a separate graft case. Seven of his commanders were acquitted on Saturday over the deaths of roughly 800 protesters during the 2011 revolt.