Egypt court condemns 188 to death after attack on police station

An Egyptian court has sentenced 188 people to death for a violent attack on a police station in the restive town Giza after the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi last year and has kept the trial pending for the opinion of the country’s top religious authority.

The ruling which came yesterday found the defendants guilty of attacking the Kerdasa police station on 14 August, 2013, the same day when Egyptian security forces dispersed two Brotherhood protest sit-in camps in Cairo and Giza, killing hundreds of people.

They were also found guilty of the attempted murder of 10 other police personnel, sabotaging the police station, torching a number of police vehicles and possessing heavy firearms.

The ruling has been referred to Egypt’s Grand Mufti,a requirement in Egyptian law before any execution can be carried out. The decision is legally non-binding to the court. The court said that the sentences will be confirmed on 24 January.
Out of the 188, only 135 were present while the rest were tried in absentia.