Islamic State affiliates in North Sinai, known as “State of Sinai”, posted a new video Sunday evening of the assassination of three judges in May. The new video went viral through social media networks under the name of “extermination of Judges”.
The attack on judges took place on 16 May, hours after a preliminary death sentence was handed to former president Mohamed Morsi. The attack took place on the Al-Arish-Rafah international road, leaving four dead, including three judges and a driver; another judge was injured in the attack.
The group claimed the attack days following the incident in a monthly statement of the attacks they carried out during April and May. It was one of several attacks on security personnel in North Sinai.
“State of Sinai” sought to justify the targeting of the judges in the newly released footage, as “they betrayed God’s covenant”, referring to the release of former president Hosni Mubarak.
The footage also showed photos of renowned Egyptian judges, including Nagy Shehata, Mohamed Abdelwahab Khafagy, Ahmed Sabry Youssef and Hassan Farid, who are currently ruling or have ruled on controversial cases.
Shehata gave mass sentences to defendants in a number of cases including the ‘cabinet clashes’ trial and ‘Rabaa Al-Adaweya’ operations room trial.
Farid is ruling on the case of 213 alleged members of “Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis”, the former name of “State of Sinai” before they pledged allegiance to the “Islamic State”. The alleged militants were charged with the assassination of 54 police officers, the attempted assassination of former interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim, and the bombings of security facilities and installations.
Additionally, Youssef gave a 20-year sentence to former president Mohamed Morsi and 12 other defendants in April in the ‘Presidential Palace’ case for inciting and demonstrating violence.
The video also referred to Morsi as being among those “calling for legitimacy falsely”.
Hours following the release of the video, Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat died in a bomb attack that targeted his convoy.
