6/13/2017
Egypt: Military court sentences eight to death after disappearance and ‘confessions’ under torture | Amnesty International
NEWS
EGYPT DEATH PENALTY
Egypt: Military court sentences eight to death after
disappearance and ‘confessions’ under torture
29 May 2016, 10:26 UTC
An Egyptian military court has sentenced eight individuals, all civilians, to death and another 18 to lengthy
prison terms, after a grossly unfair military trial that relied on “confessions” extracted under horrific torture
including defendants being whipped with a burning cloth, said Amnesty International today.
“This verdict is an affront to justice and must be quashed immediately,” said Magdalena Mughrabi
Talhami, Amnesty International’s Regional Deputy Programme Director for the Middle East and North
Africa.
“Sentencing to death men who were tortured into ‘confessions’ is an egregious injustice, even by the
degraded standards of Egypt’s justice system. They must receive a fair trial before an ordinary civilian
court that meets international standards and excludes torturetainted evidence, without the recourse to
the death penalty.”
“ Sentencing to death men who were tortured into ‘confessions’ is an
egregious injustice, even by the degraded standards of Egypt’s justice
system. ”
Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International
The 26 convicted defendants were facing charges that included belonging to a banned group – namely
the Muslim Brotherhood possession of firearms and explosives and obtaining classified military
information without authorization. Nineteen of the defendants were present in court, with the remaining
seven tried and convicted in absentia. Of the eight sentenced to death, six were present. Under Egyptian
law, the President has to ratify executions within 60 days of the verdict.
Egyptian security forces arrested the 19 defendants between 28 May and 7 June 2015 and held them
incommunicado in military intelligence detention centres, under conditions of enforced disappearance, for
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/05/egyptmilitarycourtsentenceseighttodeathafterdisappearanceandconfessionsundertorture/
1/3