CAIRO: An Egyptian criminal court on Monday sentenced 22 people to death after convicting them of storming a police station outside Cairo and killing an officer on July 3, 2013 — the day the military overthrew an elected but divisive Islamist president.

The ruling was the latest action against alleged supporters of the ousted Mohammed Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood group has faced a violent government crackdown.

After Morsi’s one-year rule ended, the Brotherhood was banned and declared a terrorist organisation. Morsi himself faces a verdict on Tuesday over accusations he was responsible for the killing of protesters while president. The ruling will be the first in several ongoing trials against him.

The Giza court said eight of the condemned were sentenced in absentia on charges that included murder, attempted murder, possession of unlicenced firearms, destruction of property and vandalism.

The ruling, which can be appealed, also sentenced a minor involved in the case to 10 years. The attack took place in Kerdasa, a restive town on the western outskirts of Cairo near the Giza Pyramids.

Kerdasa is considered a militant stronghold and gunmen and rampaging crowds have killed policemen there in other acts of violence. In the largest incident, 11 policemen were killed and their bodies mutilated in August 2013. Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2015

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