Egypt executes 9 over 2015 killing of top prosecutor
Egypt has executed nine men over the killing of the country’s top prosecutor more than three years ago, despite warnings by Amnesty International against the move.
The men were executed on Wednesday, Reuters reported, anonymously citing a prison source and a lawyer.
The convicts were among a group of 28 who were sentenced to death in 2017 in the case of the killing of Public Prosecutor Hisham Barakat.
Barakat was killed in a car bombing near his house in the capital, Cairo, in June 2015.
Many of those convicted in the case denied the accusations. They claimed that they were tortured in prison until they confessed.
Amnesty International had issued a warning on Tuesday.
“There is no doubt that those involved in deadly attacks must be prosecuted and held accountable for their actions,” said Najia Bounaim, Amnesty’s North Africa campaigns director. “But executing prisoners or convicting people based on confessions extracted through torture is not justice.”
The convicts had appealed the death sentences, but Egypt’s top court upheld the ruling in November last year.
Nineteen others were sentenced to varying prison terms in the case.
Of the total convicts, 13 were tried in absentia. Officials say they will be entitled to a new trial if they are ever located and apprehended by law enforcement.
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