An Egyptian court triggered an international uproar Monday, confirming a death sentence for 183 defendants. The defendants were convicted of murdering 11 police and two civilians in August 2013, Egypt's state-run MENA news agency reported.
Those deaths came in an attack on a police station. It followed a massive, deadly crackdown by Egyptian forces on supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsy.
"Issuing mass death sentences whenever the case involves the killing of police officers now appears to be near-routine policy, regardless of facts and with no attempt to establish individual responsibility," [Hassiba Hadj] Sahraoui [of Amnesty International said]. . . .
"So far, 415 people have been sentenced to death in four trials for the killing of police officers, while the case against former President Hosni Mubarak, involving the killing of hundreds of protesters during the uprising, has been dropped. To date no security officers have been held to account for the killing of 1,000 protesters in August 2013," the organization said on its website. . . .
Thirty-four of the 183 defendants were tried in absentia. All are permitted to appeal.From CNN.
No country other than China (even runner up, Iran) has executed that 400 more people in a single year in recent times. No country in the world, even countries like China and Iran which use the death penalty frequently, has imposed the death penalty en masse with some defendants even convicted in absentia in recent times.
The Arab Spring has been, in hindsight, pretty much a total disaster, even though it may presage democratic change in the long run. It is the 1848 of the Arab World.
According to Sunday's paper, the process of mass trials of people who participated in political rallies is continuing unabated as of early April, two months since the original post here was made.
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