Four members of banned Muslim Brotherhood sentenced to death

Egyptian court orders capital capital punishment for four members of banned Muslim Brotherhood to death and sentences 14 members to lifein prison.

An Egyptian court has sentenced 14 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, including its leader Mohamed Badie, to life in prison
An Egyptian court has sentenced 14 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, including its leader Mohamed Badie, to life in prison

An Egyptian court has sentenced four members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood organisation to death and banned the group leader to life in prison.

Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and his deputy Khairat al-Shater were among those sentenced to life on Saturday, along with former lawmaker Mohamed el-Beltagy and party head Saad el-Katatni and his deputy, Essam el-Erian.

Three co-defendants of Badie were also sentenced to death while a total of 14 members were sentenced to life in prison.

The case stemmed from clashed near the group’s headquarters on June 30, 2013, four days before the ousting of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. The fighting left 11 people dead and 91 injured.

Those convicted were accused of murder, inciting murder, attempted murder, possession of firearms and several more charges. The verdict can be appealed.

In December 2014 the court sentenced the four men to death and referred the sentences to the grand mufti for consideration. The superior court upheld the court's December decision.

Badie has already been sentenced by three separate courts to three life terms, and he was also handed two death sentences that were later overturned on appeal.

Morsi himself is facing several trials on charges that are punishable by death, while his group have been designated a "terrorist group".

Some 22,000 people have been arrested since Morsi's ouster, including most of the Brotherhood's leaders, as well as non-Islamist activists swept up by police during protests.