The Minya Criminal Court upheld death sentences on Monday for 37 of the 528 people convicted in March of attacking a police station and killing an officer last year, as per the recommendation of the Grand Mufti, according to a defence lawyer. The remaining defendants in the case received reduced sentences of 25 years, the equivalent of a life sentence, and fined EGP 20,000. In a separate case, heard in the same court by the same judge, 683 others were handed preliminary death sentences, including Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie. They are accused of killing two policemen and breaking into the Edwa police station on 14 August. The preliminary sentences for the 683 will be passed to Grand Mufti Shawqy Allam for consideration; however, he is not legally required to provide an opinion and any recommendation he makes is not legally binding. His decision is due by 21 June, when the same court will decide whether or not to ratify the sentence. Gamal Abdul Hamid, a defence lawyer working on the case, said the defence will launch an appeal through the Court of Cassation for the sentences ratified on Monday. He was unable to confirm how many of the 37 sentenced to death were in custody. The sentencing on 24 March received international condemnation from the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, United Nations Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Fourteen Egyptian human rights groups signed a joint statement calling the verdict a "serious and unprecedented departure" from the Egyptian judiciary's prior judgments as well as "a gross violation to both the right to a fair trial and the right to life".
