Three Muslim Brotherhood members received death sentences Monday for charges of violence in August 2013, with 68 others receiving prison sentences of between 10 years and life imprisonment.
The men sentenced to death by the Alexandria Criminal Court have been named as Yasser Abdul Samad Abdel Fattah and Yasser Al-Abasary Eissa, and Walid Mohamed, who was sentenced in absentia, state-run news agency MENA reported.
The individuals were found guilty of charges including murder, terrorist activity, resisting authority, damaging properties, and the attempt to occupy government buildings by force.
The case concerns violent incidents that occurred near the Library of Alexandria, resulting in the deaths of various security officials. These included Central Security Forces Officer Hossam Al-Said Bahee Al-Said, and Farouq Ahmed Abdullah, who died due to gunshot wounds to the abdomen.
Approximately 49 other unnamed individuals were killed or injured in the events, which the men have been found culpable for, including five injured officers, 12 injured “individuals”, 19 injured conscripts, and 13 “others” killed.
According to the case’s investigations, members of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood attacked security personnel and property using live ammunition, and attempted to enter the library by force. The 71 convicted individuals then continued to wreak violence throughout Alexandria, in some instances throwing stones and Molotov cocktails towards Mar Girgis church and citizens.
The 2013 ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood government led to widespread violence and instability throughout Egypt, in which thousands died and many thousands of others were arrested. The most significant event was the August clearance of the Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Al-Nahda Square sit-ins by security forces, in which over 1,000 people were killed.
It is understood that the events referred to in the case took place on 16 August, two days after the Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Al-Nahda Square dispersals. A march of pro-Morsi supporters left mosques after Friday prayers and proceeded to the library, where they were accused of attempting to burn it down, before they moved on to the Manshiya district.
