CAIRO: An Egyptian court on Tuesday condemned 188 people to death for a deadly attack on police after security forces dispersed sit-ins by supporters of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, a judicial source said.

The accused, of whom 143 are behind bars, were found guilty of taking part in an August 14, 2013 attack on a police station in Kerdassa, a village on the outskirts of Cairo, killing 13 policemen.

The attack took place on the same day that security forces violently dismantled two massive pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo in an operation that cost at least 700 lives.

The death sentences, under Egyptian law, are subject to approval by the mufti, the country’s highest Muslim religious authority. The verdict is to be confirmed or commuted on January 24.

Since the army deposed Morsi in July 2013, at least 1,400 of his supporters have been killed in a crackdown on pro-Morsi protests and hundreds sentenced to death in swift trials.

The UN rights office said on Tuesday that Egypt must rein in its security forces and investigate human rights abuses against protesters.

The United Nations said it was deeply concerned by “the seriously damaging lack of accountability for human rights violations committed by security forces in the context of demonstrations”.

Published in Dawn December 3rd , 2014