WASHINGTON // The United States expressed “deep concern” on Sunday after an Egyptian court sentenced deposed president Mohammed Morsi and more than 100 others to death for their role in a mass jailbreak during the 2011 uprising.
“We have consistently spoken out against the practice of mass trials and sentences, which are conducted in a manner that is inconsistent with Egypt’s international obligations and the rule of law,” a US state department official said.
Noting that they were preliminary sentences, the official added: “We continue to stress the need for due process and individualised judicial processes for all Egyptians in the interests of justice.”
The comments come as Qatar-based Muslim cleric Youssef Al Qaradawi condemned the death sentences passed on himself, Morsi and 105 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood group.
In a video statement posted on Qaradawi’s twitter account on Sunday, the spiritual leader for the Muslim Brotherhood, said the rulings were “nonsense” and violated Islamic law.
Many of those sentenced on Saturday were tried in absentia. The court will pronounce its final decision on June 2, since under Egyptian law, death sentences are referred to the mufti – the government’s interpreter of Islamic law – who plays an advisory role.
Defendants can still appeal even after the mufti’s recommendation.
Morsi, elected president in 2012, ruled for only a year before mass protests spurred the military to overthrow him in July 2013.
He was among dozens of leaders of the banned Brotherhood detained amid a crackdown that left hundreds of Morsi supporters dead.
Morsi, sitting in a caged dock in the blue uniform of convicts having already been sentenced to 20 years for inciting violence, raised his fists defiantly when the verdict was read.
Hours after the ruling, gunmen shot dead two judges, a prosecutor and their driver in the Sinai Peninsula. It was the first such attack on the judiciary in the region.
The US state department official said they had been “senselessly murdered”.
“We reiterate our steadfast commitment to Egypt’s security,” the official said.
Meanwhile, Egypt executed six members of a Sinai-based militant group with links to ISIL for carrying out an attack on soldiers near Cairo in 2014, the state news agency reported on Sunday.
The group, Sinai Peninsula, has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the army toppled Morsi.
The case marked the first trial of members of Sinai Peninsula, which has pledged allegiance to ISIL –they were formerly known as Ansar Beit Al Maqdis.
The men were convicted on charges which included carrying out an attack that killed two army officers.
* Agence France-Presse and Reuters