The Giza Criminal Court sought the opinion of the Grand Mufti of the Republic for a second time on Thursday regarding the preliminary death sentences of senior Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist leaders. In June, the same court sentenced 14 defendants to death including Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie, 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 defendants faced charges of murder, attempted murder, planning and taking part in an illegal assembly, vandilising properties, and causing injuries in the area of Istiqama Mosque. Four of the defendants were sentenced in absentia, 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 Criminal 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.
