EU slams Egypt for mass death sentences

A court in Egypt violated the country’s international human rights obligations by sentencing 183 men to death Monday for killing 13 policemen, the European Union said.

“Today’s decision of a court in Egypt to sentence 183 defendants to death following a mass trial is in violation of Egypt’s international human rights obligations,” the EU’s foreign service said in a statement.

The statement recalled that the EU categorically opposes capital punishment, which it says is cruel and inhuman and fails to act as a deterrent.

Monday’s verdict, which can be appealed, came after the initial sentences were sent to the grand mufti, the Egyptian government’s official interpreter of Islamic law, for ratification.

The policemen were killed in an attack on a police station in Kerdasa, a town on the outskirts of Cairo, on August 14, 2013.