Cairo court gives death penalty to 20 men over Kerdasa massacre

An Egyptian court has upheld the death penalty for 20 people over their alleged roles in killing of 13 policemen in the violence that followed the military's ousting of former president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, while sentencing many others to hefty jail terms.

The Cairo Criminal Court also on Sunday handed life sentences to 80 defendants, 15-year terms to 35 defendants in a case which has been widely known as the "Kerdasa incident."

It also ordered a minor to be imprisoned for 10 years, and acquitted 21 other defendants in the controversial case. According to the court officials, the convicted can appeal the verdict before the Court of Cassation, Egypt's highest criminal and civil court.

"Some committed murder themselves, others stole, or burned, some guarded the road so the assailants could commit their crimes, and some blocked the roads to prevent help from coming, some incited citizens against the military and police using mosque speakers and microphones on the streets. If it were not for all of that, these crimes would not have been committed," said Judge Mohammad Sherine Fahmy before reading out the verdict.

Back in April 24, the court upheld a preliminary death penalty for the 20 men and said that the verdicts were pending the consultative opinion of the country’s Grand Mufti Shawki Allam, who must review all death sentences according to the country's penal code.

The grand mufti, whose opinion is legally required but not binding, has already approved the verdicts.

On August 14, 2013, a few hours after Egyptian security forces mounted a deadly crackdown on two sit-in camps of protesters in the capital Cairo, some 50 gunmen besieged the main police station of the town of Kerdasa, located near the northern city of Giza, for several hours, before some of them struck the complex with rocket-propelled grenades (RPG).  

The assailants then stormed the station and killed 11 people officers, including the chief of the police station, and three civilians. The next month, Egyptian security forces launched a full-scale operation on the city and arrested dozens of suspects after a gun battle. The number of detained suspects in the Kerdasa case later increased to nearly 200 people.

SS