Iran Press/Africa: The Cairo Criminal Court on Sunday issued the orders for 75-year-old Mohamed Badie and some other top members of the outlawed movement over the allegations of premeditated murder, attempted murder, beating to death of anti-Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators near its headquarters in June 2013, plus possession of unlicensed weapons, judicial sources and state news agency MENA said .
According to MENA, the retrial relates to a case in which Badie and 14 others were handed life sentences for incitement to commit murder and attempted murder of anti-Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators near the group's headquarters in June 2013.
Khairat al-Shater, another senior Brotherhood figure is also among those to be retried, according to the state news agency.
Badie, on trial in 35 cases related to the movement, has been handed multiple death sentences and five life terms, which is 25 years in Egypt, in a series of trials since Egypt's military, led by incumbent President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, ousted the first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, also of the Brotherhood, in July 2013. Badie’s death verdicts, however, have been overturned by the Court of Cassation.
Earlier this month, Badie received a life sentence for allegedly inciting members of the movement to attack Maghagha police station in the southern Egyptian province of Minya and killing a police officer in August 2013. In August, he had received another life term in another case related to mass protest rallies in 2013.
Death penalties have been handed down to hundreds of Brotherhood members on charges such as belonging to an illegal organization or planning to carry out attacks.
Rights groups in Egypt and across the world have recorded cases of irregularities in the trials of political prisoners in the country. They say the army’s clampdown on the supporters of Morsi has led to the death of some 1,500 people and the arrest of 22,000 others, including 200 people who have been sentenced to death in mass trials.
The administration of Sisi has outlawed the Brotherhood organization, which is Egypt’s oldest opposition movement. The group operated under strict measures during the rule of longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak, who was himself removed from power following an uprising in 2011.
Morsi had been sentenced to death on charges of corruption, escaping from prison and inciting violence before the Court of Cassation overturned that ruling in November last year and ordered a retrial.
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