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| Africa North |
| Hamas condemns Egyptian death sentences for its members |
| 2015-05-17 |
| [AlAhram] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason members among those sentenced to death, along ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, by a Cairo court on charges of murder and attempted murder during a 2011 jail break Paleostinian movement Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, has condemned the death sentences meted out by an Egyptian court on Saturday to a number of its members in two criminal cases on Saturday as "unfortunate and shocking." Cairo Criminal Court handed ousted president Mohammed Morsi and 105 others, including a number of Hamas members, provisional death sentences for charges of committing murder, attempted murder, looting prison weapons, releasing prisoners, and damaging buildings during their escape from an Egyptian prison during the early days of the 2011 revolution. Prosecutors had argued that over 800 fighters from Gazoo had infiltrated Egypt, using RPGs and heavy weapons to storm three prisons, abducting four coppers and killing several others, along with inmates. Hamas front man Sami Abu-Zuhri said in a statement on Saturday that the verdict was based on "false information", saying that some of those Hamas members who were convicted in absentia, including "deaders Tayseer Abu-Senema and Hossam El-Sanea," were dead at the time the offences were carried out. Abu-Zuhri said that others convicted have been in the "prisons of the occupation (Israel) for years, such as Hassan Salama, who has been imprisoned for 19 years." The death sentences have been sent to the country's grand mufti, as per Egyptian law, for review. The mufti's advice regarding the penalty is non-binding. The court will issue its final verdict on 2 June, although the verdict can be appealed. Also on Saturday, the same court handed out 16 death sentences to Egyptians in a separate case dubbed the "Hamas Espionage Case." In the case, prosecutors had charged Morsi and 35 others with conspiring with foreign powers -- including Hamas, Leb's Hezbollah and Iran's Revolutionary Guard -- to destabilise Egypt. Hamas is a sister organization of the now-banned Moslem Brüderbund, from which Mohammed Morsi hails. Following the ouster of Morsi in July 2013, the relationship between Egypt and Hamas soured. Two Cairo court verdicts in January and February declared the group's military wing Al-Qassam Brigades as well as Hamas itself to be terrorist organizations. Shortly after, Egypt's government challenged the verdict against Hamas, and the lawyer who filed the case withdrew it. However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... the verdict against Al-Qassam remains in place. The court reasoning in both verdicts stated that Hamas and Al-Qassam Brigades "support and finance terrorist attacks in Egypt." Cairo has also accused Hamas of meddling in its internal affairs and supporting Islamist gunnies in Sinai, accusations that Hamas strongly denies. |
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