I'm sure Obama will explain how this is not 21st Century behavior, and how it's in both Egypt's and America's best interests to reinstate the Muslim Brotherhood to power.
From the AFP via Drudge:
An Egyptian court sentenced 682 alleged Islamists and Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie to death on Monday, a lawyer and prosecutor said, after two brief sessions the defence partly boycotted.
The same court in the southern province of Minya also reversed 492 of 529 death sentences it passed in March, commuting most of those to life in prison.
The court, presided over by judge Said Youssef Sabry, had sparked an international outcry with its initial sentencing last month amid an extensive crackdown on supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
The crackdown has extended to secular-leaning dissidents who supported Morsi's overthrow but have since turned on the army-installed regime.
[...]
Under Egyptian law, death sentences are referred to the country's top Islamic scholar for an advisory opinion before being ratified. A court may choose to commute the sentences, which can later be challenged at an appeals court.
Of the 683 sentenced on Monday, only 73 are in custody, prosecutor Abdel Rahim Abdel Malek said. The others have a right to a retrial if they turn themselves in.
Monday's hearing lasted just 10 minutes, said Khaled Elkomy, a defence lawyer who was in court.
The verdict was the first against Badie, spiritual head of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, in the several trials he faces on various charges along with Morsi and other Brotherhood leaders.
Gee, you'd think this would be bigger news since the Obama Administration supported both the overthrow of Mubarak and Morsi's takeover. I guess when Obama backs the wrong horse, it's not news in the U.S.
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