A Cairo criminal court issued a preliminary death sentence on Tuesday to two people for "joining a militant organization" in a trial known in the media as "The returnees from Libya." The court has sent its decision to the country's grand mufti, a senior Muslim cleric, for a consultative review as required by Egyptian law. A final verdict is set for 5 November, for the two defendants as well as 14 other defendants in the same trial. The grand mufti's opinion is not binding upon the court's decision. In February 2015, the prosecutor general referred 16 people arrested at the Egyptian-Libyan border to criminal court, accusing them of involvement in terrorist acts outside Egypt and planning to attack buildings and properties inside the country. Egypt launched a strike against ISIS militants in Libya in February 2015 as retaliation against the killing of 21 Egyptian Copts by the radical group.
