Egyptian court overturns 136 death sentences

An Egyptian court on Wednesday ordered a retrial after overturning 136 death sentences awarded in 2013 to Muslim Brotherhood members, including its supreme commander Mohamed Badie, in an internationally criticised mass trial.

The Court of Cassation accepted the appeals of 36 Islamists and supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi, including Badie, the supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The defendants were awarded death sentences in 2013 for attacking a police station in the Upper Egyptian city of Minya and killing a cop and 8 other persons following the dispersal of pro-Morsi sit-ins. The mass death sentences were criticised by international and local rights groups.