Egypt executes six Islamist militants for killing of soldiers
Human rights groups had tried to appeal for a stay of execution, saying two of the defendants had been in custody at the time of the attack.
By JPOST.COM STAFFAn Iranian policeman before a hanging [File](photo credit: REUTERS)
Six Islamic militants were executed by Egyptian authorities Sunday after they were convicted of killing army soldiers, despite appeals for clemency amid claims two of them had been in custody at the time of their alleged crimes, according to news publication al-Arabiya.Last March, a military court upheld the death sentences following a trial that convicted the six of carrying out attacks against military personnel in the months after the overthrow of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.Morsi, 64, was sentenced to death on Saturday along with more than 100 other members of the Muslim Brotherhood in connection with a mass jail break in 2011.Morsi and his fellow defendants, including the Brotherhood's top leader Mohamed Badie, were convicted for killing and kidnapping policemen, attacking police facilities and breaking out of jail during the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak.The six people executed on Sunday were accused by prosecutors of being part of the Islamic terrorist organization Ansar Beit al-Maqdis based in the Sinai peninsula which pledged its allegiance to ISIS last year. The group has carried out hundreds of attacks against police and soldiers since the army toppled the former Islamist president Morsi.The six were summarily executed by hanging in a Cairo jail, according to al-Arabiya.Human rights groups had tried to appeal for a stay of execution, saying two of the defendants had been in custody at the time of the attack. Amnesty International said the men underwent a "grossly unfair" trial and that the only witness during the trial was a secret police officer, al-Arabiya added.Reuters contributed to this report.
![An Iranian policeman before a hanging [File] (photo credit: REUTERS)](https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/q_auto/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/261927 "An Iranian policeman before a hanging [File]")