Mohamed Badie (R)Reuters
An Egyptian court has sentenced 683 alleged Islamist defendants, including the Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide Mohamed Badie, to death in a case of violence that followed the army overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi last year.
The judge Said Youssef also upheld 37 death sentences to Muslim Brotherhood supporters out of 529 people accused of killing a policeman in the southern province of Minya. The remaining 492 will spend 25 years in jail.
The preliminary death sentences were issued on 24 March and caused outrage among western governments and human rights groups. The US and the EU said they were "appalled" at the ruling.
The trial had only one session of one hour in which lawyers for the defence were not allowed to present arguments.
Hundreds of Brotherhood supporters and members of the security forces have been killed in political violence and thousands of Islamists and some secular dissidents jailed by authorities since the army toppled Morsi.
Source: Reuters
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