Egypt sentences 75 Islamist demonstrators to death over Morsi protest

Egyptian riot policemen point their guns towards protesters as security forces moved in to disperse supporters of Egypt's deposed president Mohamed Morsi.
AFP/Getty/Mohammed Abdel Moneim
Nick Charity8 September 2018

Egypt sentenced 75 people to death, including prominent Islamist leaders, over a sit-in 2013 which ended in the killing of hundreds of protesters.

Senior Brotherhood leaders Essam al-Erian and Mohamed Beltagi and prominent Islamist preacher Safwat Higazi are among the dozens sentenced to death by hanging.

The August 2013 Rabaa massacre ended in the deaths of hundreds of protesters when Egyptian security services cleared mass camps which had occupied the capital's al-Nahda and Rabaa al-Adawiya squares.

The military raided the two sites after six weeks of peaceful protests in support of President Mohamed Morsi, ousted in a military coup, developed into large camps occupying the squares.

Morsi supporters protest in front of Cairo University as Egyptian security forces, moved in on the two huge protest camps.
AFP/Getty/Engy Imad

Police and soliers used tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition to disperse the crowds while bulldozing the camp, which broke out into fatal fires. At least 817 were killed in the dispersal - or closer to 1,000 according to Human Rights Watch estimates.

HRW called the massacre "one of the world's largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history".

An Egyptian woman tries to stop a military bulldozer from hurting a wounded youth during clashes
AFP/Getty/Mohammed Abdel Moneim

Egyptian courts jailed 262 people from three years to life in January, for charges ranging from causing he death of two policemen to attempted murder and vandalism, Reuters reported.

The government accused the Muslim Brotherhood of encouraging an Islamist insurgency since Morsi’s removal and said militants had killed hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police.

Plumes of smoke rise from one of the protest sites at Rabaa al-Adweya Mosque in the Nasr district of Cairo.
Getty Images

There were reports that police pursued armed protesters, and Brotherhood sources accused the police of using snipers to shoot civilians from nearby rooftops.

Human Rights Watch branded the violent clash a "massacre" and crime against humanity, alleging that the "use of force was planned and co-ordinated by top government officials, including current president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi​.

Bodies are arranged at a mosque in Cairo in the aftermath of the crackdown on August 14, 2013.
AFP/Getty/Khaled Desoukia

Leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, who had been in hiding for a week before being arrested in a residential flat in Nasr City, and has already been sentenced to life in connection to terrorism offences. The group is deemed a terror organisation by Saudi Arabia.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in