Giza Criminal Court handed preliminary death penalties to Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie and 13 other defendants on Thursday in the "Istiqama Mosque" case. The other defendants to receive such a verdict in the case, according to state-owned Al-Ahram, include senior Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) member Mohamed Al-Beltagy, FJP deputy chairman Essam Al-Erian, Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya member Assem Abdel Maged, conservative preacher Safwat Hegazy, and former Minister of Supply Bassem Ouda. The court referred the files of the 13 to the Grand Mufti of the Republic for approval, and scheduled the case's final rulings for 3 August. The defendants faced charges of murder, attempted murder, planning and taking part in an illegal assembly, vandilising properties, and causing injuries. Four of the defendants were sentenced in absentia on Thursday, including Abdel Maged, who fled the country last year. Brotherhood leader Badie also received the death sentence. He was one of 638 who were sentenced to death on 28 April by the Minya Crominal Court for allegedly killing two policemen and breaking into the Edwa Police Station on 14 August. Al-Beltagy and Hegazy are also being tried for partaking in the kidnapping and torture of two police officers during the pro-Mohamed Morsi sit-in at Rabaa Al-Adaweya. Badie was arrested from a Nasr City apartment on 20 August, less than a week after the sit-in at Rabaa Al-Adaweya was violently dispersed.
