683 brotherhood supporters get death penalty in Egypt!

The movement says it is committed to peaceful activism. But some Brotherhood members fear pressure from security forces. The courts could drive some young members to violence against the movement’s old enemy- the Egyptian state.

Badie was charged with crimes including inciting violence that followed the army overthrow of Morsi, who is also on trial on an array of charges. In a separate case, the court handed down a final capital punishment for 37 others. The death sentences were part of a final judgement on 529 Muslim Brotherhood supporters sentenced to death last month. The remaining defendants were jailed for life, judicial sources said.

Death sentence recommendations in the case involving Badie will be passed on to Egypt’s Mufti, the highest religious authority. However, his opinion can be ignored by the court. Mass trials in the biggest Arab state have reinforced fears among human rights groups that the government and anti-Islamist judges are using all levers of power to crush opponents.

‘The decisions are possibly the largest possible death sentences in recent world history. While they’re exceptional in scale, they’re certainly not exceptional in kind,’ said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director for Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch.

‘It seems that these sentences are aimed at striking fear and terror into the hearts of those who oppose the interim government.’ In an early reaction from a Western government, Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt wrote on Twitter that the mass trials were an ‘outrage’. ‘The world must and will react!’

As soon as word spread of the death sentences, relatives of the defendants screamed and cried outside the court in the town of Minya. ‘This is a corrupt government. This is a failed regime. We have no real police. We have no real state,’ said Sabah Hassan, whose son was sentenced to death. Others collapsed on the street as soldiers with AK-47 assault rifles standing on an armoured vehicle looked on. Relatives blamed Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general who deposed Morsi. The former head of military intelligence under Mubarak is expected to easily win presidential elections on 26-27 May in a country long ruled by men from the military, Mursi’s time in office representing the rare exception. ‘Sisi is ruling like a king’ and ‘may God punish you for what you did’ some people chanted.