Egypt’s death sentences for 12 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which were upheld last week by the country’s highest civil court, continue to draw outrage and a fierce backlash worldwide.
“The international community, most of whom rejects the death penalty on a point of principle, has a moral duty to stand up and denounce these sentences,” said Anas Altikriti, chairman of the Cordoba Foundation, a UK-based research and advisory group.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Altikriti said: “These sentences defy the basic threshold needed to pass any sentence whatsoever, never mind a death sentence; never mind death sentences against 12 men en masse.”
He added: “Trials where defendants cannot testify, held in courts that have been corrupted by state hegemony do not have the legitimacy nor the legal competence to pass death sentences.”
On June 14, Egypt’s highest civilian court upheld the death sentences of 12 Muslim Brotherhood members, including senior leaders Mohamed al-Beltagy, Safwat Hegazy, Abdel-Rahman el-Bar, Osama Yassin (former Egyptian minister), and Ahmed Aref.
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