Egypt upholds death penalty for 12 Muslim Brotherhood members

Court decision marks end of a trial linked to a mass killing by security forces at a sit-in in Cairo in 2013.

Egypt’s highest civilian court on Monday upheld death sentences for 12 Muslim Brotherhood members, concluding a trial linked to a 2013 mass killing by security forces at a sit-in, according to judicial sources. The ruling, which cannot be appealed against, means the 12 men could face execution pending approval by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. They include Abdul Rahman Al-Bar, commonly described as the group’s mufti or top religious scholar, Mohamed El-Beltagi, a former member of parliament, and Osama Yassin, a former minister. Many Muslim Brotherhood figures have been sentenced to death in other cases related to the unrest that followed the military’s removal of Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, but the Court of Cassation ordered retrials.