United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern about Egypt’s decision to sentence hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters and its leader to death.
“The secretary-general is alarmed by the news that another preliminary mass death sentence has been handed down today in Egypt, the first of which was on 24 March,” the UN press office said in a statement issued on Monday.
“Verdicts that clearly appear not to meet basic fair trial standards, particularly those which impose the death penalty, are likely to undermine prospects for long-term stability,” the statement added.
Ban also noted that he would discuss his concerns with the Egyptian foreign minister later this week.
On Monday, a court in Egypt sentenced 683 supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi to death amid an intensifying crackdown on dissent.
The court issued the verdicts during a hearing in the southern city of Minya.
The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood movement Mohamed Badie was among the defendants who received the capital punishment sentence.
Egypt has been experiencing unrelenting violence since Morsi was ousted on July 3, 2013.
According to the UK-based rights group Amnesty International, 1,400 people have been killed in the political violence since Morsi’s ouster, “most of them due to excessive force used by security forces.”
MSM/AS/MAM
No comments:
Post a Comment