Egypt to execute 13 for post-coup 'violence'

CAIRO

Egypt’s Court of Cassation on Tuesday upheld death sentences handed down against 13 individuals convicted earlier for “committing acts of violence” following the country’s 2013 military coup.

“The Court of Cassation on Tuesday rejected appeals lodged by the 13 defendants,” local media quoted a judicial source as saying.

The 13 were convicted earlier for committing “acts of violence” in the period from 2013 to 2014.

Tuesday's verdict is final and cannot be appealed. Under Egyptian law, only President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who came to power on the back of the 2013 coup, has the authority to pardon them.

Since March of 2015, the Egyptian authorities have executed 42 regime opponents, with the most recent executions having been carried out last February.

Rights groups frequently accuse the Egyptian authorities of trying and convicting political opponents on trumped-up criminal charges.

Egyptian officials, for their part, say all defendants receive fair trials and enjoy due legal process.

Egypt has been roiled by sporadic violence since 2013, when Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president, was ousted and imprisoned in a bloody military coup.