Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Tuesday vowed to swiftly amend criminal laws against militants and fast-track death sentences, a day after the assassination of the country’s top prosecutor who had referred thousands of Islamists to trial in recent months.
Sisi’s comments came following the military funeral of the Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat who was killed by a car bomb on Monday.
“Criminal laws will be amended within days to confront the developments we are facing,” the president said.
“The arm of justice is chained by the law. We’re not going to wait for this. We’re going to amend the law to allow us to implement justice as soon as possible,” Sisi said in a televised speech surrounded by Barakat’s mourning relatives.
“If there is a death sentence, a death sentence will be implemented,” Sisi said. “The law! The law! We’re not going to wait five or 10 years to try the people killing us”.
“We will implement judicial sentences. Life in prison and death sentences will be put into effect as soon as possible,” the president added referring to the sentences handed down to Muslim Brotherhood leaders recently.
The funeral here was attended by top and high profile political figures and was aired on TV.