Egyptian court defends death sentences, calls Morsi supporters 'Jewish demons'
37 Islamists sentenced to death, while hundreds more handed life sentences, accused of preaching Jewish Talmud by court.
By JPOST.COM STAFFMuslim Brotherhood in court cages(photo credit: REUTERS)
After Egyptian courts sentenced dozens of supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi to death and sentenced hundreds to life, the court defended its verdict by calling the men “demons” who preached Jewish scripture, according to AFP. Earlier this year, the Egyptian court sentenced 529 members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to death for the murder of a police officer and other offenses.The court eventually upheld the death sentences for 37 of the Islamist defendants while the remainder had their sentences commuted to life in prison.AFP quoted the court as stating on Sunday that “the accused came out of the depths of hell...to plunder Egypt’s wealth, tyrannize its people and they killed the deputy commissioner,” adding that the men were “enemies of the nation” and used mosques to promote the teachings of “their holy book, the Talmud,” a series of scriptures on Jewish Law.The military toppled Morsi in July 2013 following mass protests against his year in power, and security forces launched a crackdown on his supporters, killing hundreds and arresting thousands more. Following the army’s overthrow of Morsi’s democratically elected government, the new military authorities formally listed the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization after accusing it of carrying out a suicide bomb attack on a police station that killed 16 people.In April, the same court that sentenced 529 people to death, handed the death penalty to 683 people it said were supporters of Morsi, according to the AFP report, accusing them of murder and the attempted murder of the policemen.Judges are due to confirm the 683 death sentences this month.
