Egyptian death sentences for 683 Muslim Brotherhood supporters spark protest calls, global unease

Getty Images

Egyptian death sentences for 683 Muslim Brotherhood supporters spark protest calls, global unease
(Image credit: Getty Images)

On Monday, an Egyptian court sentenced Mohamed Badie, the leader of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, and 682 other Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death. The defendants were charged with inciting violence after the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi last July.

There are now calls for protests in Cairo on Wednesday, Reuters reports, and the United States and United Nations are worried by the ruling. "Today's verdict, like the one last month, defies even the most basic standards of international justice," the White House said in a statement.

"The decisions are possibly the largest possible death sentences in recent world history," Sarah Leah Whitson at Human Right Watch told Reuters. "It seems as these sentences are aimed at striking fear and terror into the hearts of those who oppose the interim government."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Badie, a 70-year-old veterinary professor, is considered a "conservative hardliner," Reuters says, and was quoted as saying at one of his trials, "If they executed me 1,000 times I will not retreat from the right path."

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.