Kerdasa case closed THE COURT of Cassation on Monday upheld sentences passed against 135 defendants in the retrial of the Kerdasa police station massacre, turning down their appeal. The court ruling is final. It backs a previous ruling passed by the Cairo Criminal Court in July 2017, sentencing 20 defendants to death, 80 to life in prison, 34 defendants to 15 years in prison and one minor to 10 years. Twenty-one defendants were acquitted in the first-degree court ruling. Death sentences have already received the approval of the grand mufti whose opinion is a formality. The defendants face charges of storming a police station in Kerdasa in August 2013 following the forced dispersal of the Rabaa Al-Adawiya sit-in and of killing 14 policemen, including the station chief and his deputy. They were also charged with belonging to an outlawed group and destroying public property. In the wake of the massacre the prosecution-general referred the defendants to the Cairo Criminal Court. 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Demanding sailors' release TURKISH forces on Friday detained a Cypriot fishing vessel with one Greek Cypriot and four Egyptian fishermen on board near the coast of northern Cyprus which lies under Turkey's control. Cyprus has been trying to secure the release of the detained fishermen. The Cypriot government immediately protested to the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus, decrying the confiscation of the boat, Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid stated on Saturday. “The UN is trying to resolve this situation which is regrettable,” UN Spokesman Alim Seddik said. Cypriot Foreign Ministry Spokesman Demetris Samuel said the owner of the fishing boat told authorities that a Turkish warship approached his vessel 20 miles off the island's northwestern coast Friday evening. The crew of the vessel was then arrested and the boat towed to a harbour on the breakaway island of Northern Cyprus. Abu Zeid said the ministry will continue to follow up contacts with its Cypriot counterpart and the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus to release the sailors. A Turkish Cypriot news agency quoted police as saying that the crew of the Greek Cypriot fishing vessel was arrested for violating Turkish Cypriot territorial waters, at a spot nine miles off the northwestern coast. 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On the terrorist list THE COURT of Cassation on Saturday backed a first-degree ruling putting Muslim Brotherhood leader and businessman Hassan Malek and 55 other MB members on a list of terrorist entities for three years. The defendants are charged with harming the Egyptian economy by smuggling foreign currencies and financially supporting terrorist groups. The defendants had appealed the ruling, passed by the Cairo Criminal Court in December 2017, banning them from travel and confiscating their assets. The Cassation Court on Saturday quashed the defendants' appeal. In 2015 the prosecutor-general referred Malek and the rest of the defendants to an emergency court after ordering their arrest. Several members of Malek's family were also added to the terrorist list that was later endorsed by the Cairo Criminal Court. Egypt designated the MB a terrorist group in 2014. 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New editorial policy SECURITY forces raided the headquarters of the privately-owned Al-Mesryoon newspaper on Monday and placed the management of the publication under the supervision of a committee from the state-owned Al-Akhbar news outlet. The committee held meetings with reporters and working staff to inform them of the new editorial policy of the paper. According to Press Syndicate Council member Amr Badr, laptops and cell phones belonging to staff were confiscated during the raid. On 11 September the Committee for the Seizure, Management and Disposal of the Assets of Terrorist Organisations and Individuals seized the assets of 118 companies, including Al-Mesryoon for Journalism, Printing and Publishing, the newspaper's publishing company. It is unclear if Monday's raid is related to the seizure of assets which is based on Law 221/2018 and which was ratified in April by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. Under the law, assets can be confiscated and deposited before their owners are convicted of charges related to terrorism. The controversial law has resulted in widespread debate. Compiled by Mona El-Nahhas
