By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – In the largest mass death sentence to be handed by a court in modern Egyptian history 529 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood have been sentenced to death, charged with several crimes including murder. The verdict was handed down on Monday and according to Egypt’s official news agency, the charges were related to riots in the city of Minya in south Egypt in august of last year, including the death of an Egyptian police officer. The charges against the defendants included charges of violence, inciting murder, storming a police station, attacking persons and damaging both public and private property.

The group of defendants is part of a group of about 1,200 Muslim brotherhood supporters on trial in Egypt, including senior members of the organizations. About 400 of those convicted are fugitives and were convicted and sentenced in absentia; under Egyptian law, they will be entitled to a retrial if they are arrested.

Most of the defendants were arrested and charged with caring out attacks during the violent clashes between protesters opposing the removal of democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi, a member of the now banned Muslim Brotherhood, that occurred in Minya after the intern military government cracked down on the opposing, forcing the dispersal of two major protest camps, used by the Muslim Brotherhood to demonstrate against the coup, on August 14 of last year.

The defendants are expected to appeal the decision and layers say the verdict is almost certain to be overturned on appeal. Many legal experts in Egypt were surprised by the verdict which is the largest mass trial or conviction in modern Egyptian history. “We have never heard of anything of this magnitude before, inside or outside of Egypt, that was within a judicial system — not just a mass execution,” said Karim Medhat Ennarah, a researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights specializing in criminal justice issues.

Ennarah, who called the verdict “ridiculous”  argued that it would be impossible to prove that more than 500 people each played a significant role in the killing a single police offence, especially after just on session of the trial, which is what occurred in the case. He said; “clearly this is an attempt to intimidate and terrorize the opposition, and specifically the Islamist opposition, but would the judge get so deeply involved in politics up to this point?”

The verdict was the latest example of Egypt’s speedy and brutal crackdown on Islamists and supporters of the Muslim brotherhood, the verdict was the latest in a sting of speedy trials resulting in harsh sentences against Islamists and other supports of Mohamed Morsi, including a ten-day trial that recent ended in 17 year sentences for a group of student demonstrators. Human Rights groups have said Monday’s verdict is a signal that the Egyptian government intended to further tighten its grip on the opposition, including the Muslim Brotherhood, once the nation’s leading party, which has been largely driven underground by the government’s crackdown.

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Muslim Brotherhood Members Sentenced to Death – 24 March 2014

CNN International – 528 Muslim Brotherhood Supporters Sentenced to Death in Egypt – 24 March 2014

BBC News – Egypt Court Sentences 528 Morsi Supporters to Death – 24 March 2014

National Public Radio – Egyptian Court Sentences More Than 500 Morsi Supporters to Die – 24 March 2014

The New York Times – Hundreds Of Egyptians Sentenced to Death In Killing Of A Police Officer – 24 March 2014