Egypt Sentences 75 People To Death, Jails 600 Others Over 2013 Cairo Carnage

An Egyptian court sentenced to death 75 people, including prominent Islamists, and jailed hundreds others over a 2013 pro-Muslim Brotherhood demonstration in Cairo that descended into carnage. An estimated 800 protesters were killed by security forces in clashes that erupted in Rabaa Adawiya square, the most deadly incident following the country’s popular uprising that ousted long-time strongman Hosni Mubarak two years earlier. Thereafter, in 2012, Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Mohamed Morsi was elected president in the first democratic vote in the nation in decades, but he was forcibly removed from office onyl a year later by the military amid renewed mass unrest over a perceived political power grab. The army, directed by current Egyptian President Abdel al-Fattah al-Sisi, subsequently launched a major crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, arresting thousands of its proponents who have since been jailed on charges ranging from organizing illegal protests to murder. In response to Saturday’s court decision, Amnesty International released a statement “condemn[ing] today’s verdict in the strongest terms. The fact that not a single police officer has been brought to account…shows what a mockery of justice this trial was.” Notably, the development occurred as United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo authorized the release of $1.2 billion in American military assistance to Egypt that had been withheld due to human rights concerns.