Egypt sentences 22 Mursi supporters to death

An Egyptian court Wednesday sentenced 22 supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohammed Mursi to death for an attack on a police station in which one officer was killed.

The attack in the town of Kerdasa on the outskirts of Cairo on July 3, 2013 came on the same day that army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi -- who is now president -- announced the dismissal of Mursi.

Since his ouster, the authorities have cracked down hard on Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement with at least 1,400 of his supporters killed.

Hundreds more have been condemned to death and thousands have been jailed, often in speedy mass trials criticized by rights groups.

Death sentences in Egypt are subject to approval by the mufti, the country's highest Muslim religious authority.

The latest verdict is to be confirmed or commuted on April 20 and the defendants may appeal.

In February an Egyptian court upheld death sentences for 183 men convicted of killing 13 policemen in a mob attack in Kerdasa in August 2013.

That attack took place on the same day that security forces killed hundreds of demonstrators in clashes as they dismantled two massive protest camps in Cairo supporting Mursi.