CAIRO: An Egypt court on Monday sentenced 14 people to death and four others to life in jail over their role in attacks on the military and police in the Sinai Peninsula last year, court officials said. All the men allegedly belong to the militant group Tawheed wa Jihad and were charged with killing three police officers, a military officer and a civilian in attacks in June and July 2011. Only 6 of those sentenced to death were present, with the other 8 remaining in hiding. The use of the death penalty in Egypt has come under local and international scrutiny in the past year and a half since the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising. Activists have urged the government to end its use, arguing that by doing so would boost human rights in the country. Dozens of Egyptian citizens have been sentenced to death in recent months over their roles in attacking the military, which ruled over Egypt from February 11, 2011 until President Mohamed Morsi took over on June 30 this year.
