Egypt Grand Mufti rejects death sentence against MB chief

Egypt’s top religious leader has dismissed death sentences passed on the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and other members of the movement.

On Thursday, Grand Mufti Shawki Allam stated that the case against Mohamed Badie and the other defendants lacks necessary evidence to incriminate the accused.

The Mufti also noted in his report to the criminal court that the only evidence used in the case against the defendants was statements of a national security officer, which were not backed up by any other sources.

On June 19, an Egyptian court sentenced Badie and 13 other Brotherhood members to death. It referred the verdict to the Mufti, the state’s highest Islamic legal official, whose opinion must be sought before any execution can take place.

The court therefore adjourned a final verdict in the case until August 30.

Although the Mufti’s decision is non-binding, the court will issue a final verdict following his report.

Since the ouster of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on July 3 last year, Egypt has been the scene of anti-government protests with continuous clashes between security forces and Morsi’s supporters.

Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically-elected president, was toppled in a military coup led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt’s current president and then army commander.

Following Morsi’s ouster, Sisi announced his candidacy for the nation’s presidency and was sworn in as president after winning an election in which less than 50 percent of eligible voters participated.

Sisi is accused of leading the suppression of Muslim Brotherhood supporters as hundreds of them have been killed in clashes with Egyptian security forces over the last year.

Rights groups say the army’s crackdown on the supporters of Morsi has left over 1,400 people dead and 22,000 others arrested.