Cairo, confirms life sentence for the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood
Life in prison confirmed in second instance for Mohamed Badie and his deputy Khairat al-Chater. Thier role in the violence that occurred immediately after the overthrow of Morsi upheld. The two defendants can still appeal to the Supreme Court. At least 40 activists, trade unionists and human rights lawyers have been arrested since October.
Cairo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - An Egyptian court confirmed yesterday the life sentence for the head of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie (pictured) and for his deputy Khairat al-Chater. Behind the sentence of life imprisonment their (presumed) role in the violence that followed the overthrow - by the hands of the army - then President Morsi, one of the leading leaders of the Islamic pro-extremist movement.
Badie and Chater had already been sentenced in 2015, in relation to some incidents between supporters and opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood near the headquarters of the movement. The sentence issued yesterday afternoon is not final and the two leaders can appeal to the Supreme Court, the highest judicial instance in Egypt.
Four other defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment; instead, Saad al-Katatny, Parliament Speaker under the presidency Morsi, a former minister and two leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood were acquitted. The public prosecutor has indicted 18 people in the context of the judicial case: of these, at least five have escaped capture and one died before the trial.
In 2013 the former president Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Brotherhood, was overthrown by the army, in the context of a street revolt: an act that then led to a new vote and the election of former general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi , recently confirmed to a second term.
Meanwhile, arrests of activists and members of civil society do not stop in the country. Since last October at least 40 trade unionists, activists and lawyers have been arrested and transported to "unknown places". Many of the arrested persons would have provided humanitarian aid or legal support to the families of political prisoners, who also disappeared after the arrest.
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