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Morsi supporters receive mass death sentence

680 ordered executed by Egyptian court over convictions ranging from violence to murder

A death sentence was handed to over 680 supporters of Egypt’s ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi today by a court in southern city Minya.

They were convicted of various acts of violence and the murder of police officers.

Those sentenced included the Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader Mohammed Badie.

Mr Badie has several times railed from the dock at the government, accusing it of staging a “coup d’etat.”

Defence lawyer Ahmed Hefni said that the death sentences first have to be approved by Egypt’s Mufti, the top Islamic official.

The case is linked to riots that erupted in Minya and elsewhere in Egypt after security forces disbanded sit-ins by Brotherhood supporters in Cairo last August.

Hundreds were killed as part of a sweeping campaign against ousted President Morsi’s supporters.

The Cairo Court for Urgent Matters yesterday also banned the April 6 youth movement that helped engineer the 2011 uprising which led to the removal of President Hosni Mubarak.

But many activists claimed the ruling to be part of a campaign orchestrated by the military-led government to stifle opposition and dissent.

The court ruled in a suit filed by a lawyer who had demanded the banning of the group over allegations that it “tarnished the image of the Egyptian state” and conspired against the country’s national interests.

April 6 movement leaders Ahmed Maher and Mohammed Adel have been jailed for violating a new protest law that requires any demonstration to have a police permit.

The ban by can be suspended by a higher tribunal.

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