HUNDREDS OF BOSNIANS PROTEST MB DEATH SENTENCES

Sarajevo, 20 Jumadil Akhir 1435/20 April 2014 (MINA) – More than 200 demonstrators gathered in the Bosnian capital to protest against the death penalty for 528 members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

The crowds chanted slogans on Saturday such as “Muslim Brothers shoulder-to-shoulder”, “Morsi, we are with you” and “Peace for Muslim Brotherhood and resistance”.

They raised photographs of ousted Egyptian president Mohammad Morsi and placards with the ‘Rabia’ sign, a symbol of freedom and resistance in the Middle East, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

A dozen people in the crowd stood wrapped in white sheets which, according to Islamic tradition, are used to wrap the dead.

Some of the demonstrators brought ropes and platforms symbolizing the gallows.

Most of the demonstrators were students from the International University of Sarajevo and Association Egyptian Unity.

Some said the aim of the protest was to send a message to the entire world that the sentencing of the Muslim Brotherhood members violated human rights and universal values around the world.

“This is not a problem of the Islamic world only, but also for the entire world. We call on all people to express their solidarity to the Egyptian people,” said one protester, student Betul Sarac, who expressed hope that the Egyptian authorities would overturn the death penalty.

Student Emin Music said that the Egyptians had been sentenced to death in an unfair trial.

“Imagine a system which sentences 529 innocent people only because they disagreed with it,” he said.

Doctor Mohammed Mahmoud, originally from Egypt but who currently lives and works in Bosnia, also came to support his fellow nationals and said the Egyptian diaspora supported the legitimacy of democratic elections.

“We will not vote every day so that one army general can come to us, carry out a military coup, bust people and violate the laws,” he said.

Mahmoud also said that he did not support upcoming elections in his country, as he believed the army would again depose any new president which it did not accept.

The protest in Sarajevo was held peacefully and without incident. (T/P09/P04).

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)