Death for murder ALEXANDRIA Criminal Court on Monday sentenced three Muslim Brotherhood members to death for involvement in the murder of an officer and a conscript near the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in the aftermath of the violent dispersals of Rabaa and Al-Nahda sit-ins in August 2013. One of the three defendants was sentenced in absentia. In the same case, the court also sentenced 25 defendants to 25 years in jail, 21 to 15 years in jail and 22 to 10 years. Those convicted were charged with murder, harbouring terrorists, attempted murder, resisting arrest and attempting to besiege government buildings. They were also convicted of vandalising police stations, a church, police vans, an ambulance and a car, in addition to forced entry for theft and blocking traffic. The violence led to the killing of the conscript and an officer, the injury of five officers, 19 conscripts and 12 others, as well as the death of 13 people. According to the investigation, the Brotherhood members set out to attack the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, firing at security forces and people near the Bibliotheca. A military court in August sentenced 250 Muslim Brotherhood members to life in jail for their involvement in acts of violence that erupted in the Nile Delta governorate Beheira following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Policemen attacked UNKNOWN assailants opened fire Monday night on a police checkpoint on the Misr-Assiut agricultural road, killing a conscript and injuring an officer. The policemen were patrolling the road in Giza's Badrashin when the assailants attacked. The attackers were able to flee the scene. Egypt has witnessed frequent attacks by Islamist militants on police and army checkpoints following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, leaving hundreds of security personnel dead and injured.
Back to school AT LEAST 19 million pupils headed back to school on Monday, the first day of a new academic year, which the education minister said he hopes will be “more stable”. Minister of Education and Technical Education Al-Hilali Al-Sherbini stated that his ministry was ready to put in place urgent maintenance and security plans for schools and other educational facilities around Egypt for the 2015-2016 academic year. In an official statement sent to all educational directorates the ministry warned of involvement in politics in order to avoid instigating differences between teachers and students, and also to prevent any writings on school walls that make use of political or religious slogans. Egypt has long suffered from a deteriorating educational system, which has been mostly blamed on insufficient government investment. Schools suffer from a lack of facilities and a poor curriculum, while teachers complain of low salaries. This fiscal year 2015-2016, the government has allocated LE99.2 billion for education compared to LE94.4 billion in the 2014/15 budget.
