Al Jazeera
Egyptian court sentences 683 people to death
Amid crackdown on opposition, judge also confirms death sentences for 37 alleged Muslim Brotherhood supporters.
Al Jazeera Last updated: 28 Apr 2014 13:37
Outside the courtroom on Monday, when news of the sentences broke, families of the accused began to scream and several women fainted, falling to the ground.
The case killed the credibility of the Egyptian judicial system.
Mohamed Elmessiry, an Amnesty International researcher monitoring the cases, said they "lacked basic fair trial guarantees".
The defendants from the first case whose death sentences were not upheld were each sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Many of the lawyers for the accused boycotted the hearing, demanding that the judge be recused and calling him a "butcher".
Lawyer Mohamed Abdel Waheb, who represents 25 of the defendants, said the verdict was handed down in a court session lasting less than five minutes. Previously, he said, the single session in the trial lasted just four hours, during which the judge refused to listen to any arguments from the defence.
Abdel Nasser Hassanien, standing outside the courtroom, said five of his relatives were among those sentenced to die, including his brother, Ahmed Hassenein Abdelatty, 22. "Of the five only one is related to the Muslim Brotherhood, and he didn't do anything," he said.
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