Egypt Sentences Four to Death for 'Fabricated' ISIL Links

Rasa - An Egyptian court sentenced four people to death for being part of a group allegedly linked to the ISIL terror group, however their defense lawyer blasted the charges as "fabricated" and insisted the clients were innocence.

News ID: 423241

Date: 05 September 2016 - 22:22

RNA - Two defendants were also jailed for 15 years each, along with another six who were handed ten years each for forming an ISIL cell in Northern Egypt, an anonymous judicial source said, Anadolu reported.

The court acquitted one individual of all charges.

Defense lawyer Mosaad al-Hamaki blasted the charges as "fabricated" and insisted his clients' innocence.

"The accused don't have any political affiliations," he told Anadolu.

Egyptian activist and executive director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information Gamal Eid also questioned the verdict, describing death sentences in Egypt as a tool of political revenge.

Since the overthrow of Egypt's first democratically elected president in 2013, the number of death sentences handed out by Egyptian courts has risen dramatically. Among those who have received capital punishment judgements are Egypt's ousted president Mohamad Morsi, and hundreds of protesters and journalists.

In the same period, Egypt has battled an ISIL-linked insurgency in the restive Sinai province that has targeted the country's security forces, killing hundreds of servicemen.

This has led to a security crackdown and a military campaign against ISIL affiliates in the country.

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