• 07:34
  • Tuesday ,10 March 2015
العربية

Egypt says recent execution of convict was "in complete adherence" to law

By-aswatmasriya

Copts and Poliltical Islam

00:03

Tuesday ,10 March 2015

Egypt says recent execution of convict was

The Egyptian government said "much of the coverage" on the execution of a convicted man earlier this week, "seemed to focus on unrelated factors," on Monday.The Egyptian government said "much of the coverage" on the execution of a convicted man earlier this week, "seemed to focus on unrelated factors," on Monday.

On Saturday, the Interior Ministry said it executed by hanging a man after he was handed a final death sentence for an incident involving throwing "children" off a rooftop.
 
Egypt's Foreign Ministry said the case was carried out in complete adherence to the law. 
 
The executed man was arrested and tried for violence that took place in Alexandria in July, 2013 at the height of tension caused by the overthrow of former president Mohamed Mursi, which had only taken places two days before. 
 
Video footage of the events showed young men being pushed off a platform, several meters high onto the rooftop of a building, creating an uproar.  
 
Egypt's Foreign Ministry cited this video footage in a statement today and said that the executed man "is one of the men clearly seen pursuing and assaulting the young men; video evidence verifies his identity, and he later confessed to stabbing one of the young men with a knife."   
 
The ministry said one of the people who were pushed eventually died.  
 
Aswat Masriya could not independently verify the identity of the person pushing the young men off the platform or that the executed man did in fact take part in the process.  
 
The pro-Mursi Anti Coup Alliance has condemned the execution, describing it as “a crime of murdering an innocent citizen upon an unjust death sentence.”
 
Several parties and groups make up the alliance including the Muslim Brotherhood. 
 
The alliance likened the executed man to Khaled Said, an Alexandrian youth who died after being tortured by police in 2010 and whose death sparked Egypt’s 2011 uprising which toppled the regime of former president Hosni Mubarak.
 
The executed man was tried alongside 62 other defendants accused of violence in Alexandria's Sedi Gaber neighbourhood. He was sentenced to death in March, 2014, while the rest were handed lengthy prison terms. 
 
In February, Egypt's Court of Cassation turned down a request for retrial, effectively upholding all sentences and leaving no room for any further appeals.