Egypt court upholds death sentence of Islamist who threw teens from rooftop, hands tens long jail terms

The Court of Cassation, the final court in Egypt’s legal system, has confirmed the death sentence passed on a man convicted of throwing youths from a rooftop in violence that followed the 2013 ouster of Mohamed MorsiAn Egyptian court upheld Thursday a death sentence passed on a supporter of former president Mohamed Morsi accused of throwing teenage boys from a rooftop in Alexandria, a judicial source told Ahram Online.
The court also handed long jail terms to tens of other defendants in the same case.

The verdict followed convictions on charges of killing four youths and the attempted murder of eight others during violence that broke out in the Mediterranean city on 5 July 2013, in the days after Morsi’s removal from power following mass protest against his yearlong rule.

The Court of Cassation rejected appeals by 58 defendants in the case, sentencing one, Mahmoud Hassan Ramadan, to death, 18 others to life imprisonment and the rest to jail terms ranging from seven to 15 years, the source added.

Other charges the defendants faced include incitement to murder, illegal assembly, vandalism, harming social peace and illegal possession of arms.

A total of 18 people were killed in violence that broke out in Alexandria’s Sidi Gaber district following Morsi’s ouster, according to state news agency MENA.

Footage widely circulated online showed a mob cornering four teenage boys on top of building, with the man sentenced to death throwing at least one person from a roof.

The verdict by the Court of Cassation, Egypt’s highest judicial authority, cannot be appealed.

Defendants, however, can request a reconsideration of the case by the court if new evidence surfaces, or the trial is proven flawed — something judicial experts say is often rejected.