UN STILL AWAITING EGYPTIAN RESPONSE OVER MASS DEATH PENALTIES

New York, 6 Jumadil Akhir 1435/6 April 2014 (MINA) –  Deputy Spokesman for the UN Secretary General Farhan Haq said on Friday that the international organisation is waiting to see how Egypt would deal with the issue of death penalties against 529 anti-coup Egyptians.

In the daily press briefing at the UN Headquarters, Haq said: “We have made our views known [about this matter]. We have discussed our concerns about it. We will continue to monitor developments at this stage of course; we are waiting to see what the Egyptian Government will do.”

However, Haq did not clarify whether the UN was expecting a response regarding the overturning of the verdict, or guarantees that Egyptian Judiciary would respect fundamental standards of justice, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

“We have been in touch with the Egyptian authorities,” he added, “We are waiting to see how this works, both in the legal system in Egypt and with the Government of Egypt.”

On March, The Upper Egypt court sentenced on Monday 529 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood to death on allegation of murdering the deputy commander of the Matay district police station in Minya during riots in the aftermath of the dispersal of the Rabaa sit-in in August.

The court also acquitted 16 other defendants.

Only 147 defendants were present at the hearing, while the rest are on the run and were being tried in absentia, according to Aswat Masriya.

The trial began on Saturday with the defence lawyers demanding the recusal of the judges’ panel and its replacement with another, “unbiased”, panel. Their request was rejected.

On Monday, the court issued its sentence without hearing the defence arguments.

The law allows the verdict to be appealed, as this is the biggest capital punishment verdict in the history of the Egyptian judiciary. (T/Nidiya/P03/E01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)