Egypt court orders retrial of top Brotherhood leaders

An Egyptian court has turned down death and life sentences against several Muslim Brotherhood figures over violence and murder charges, official news agency MENA reported on Monday.

The court of cassation accepted an appeal and ordered a retrial of Mohamed Badie, supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, and his deputy, Khirate al-Shater, and 11 others, MENA said.

They were accused of inciting riots, violence and premeditated murder outside the group's headquarters in the southeastern Cairo neighborhood of Mokattam. Violence there left at least nine people dead and 91 others injured.

In February 2015, the Cairo criminal court sentenced four of them to death and the remaining 10 to life in prison.

Since the army-led ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, in response to mass protests against his rule, hundreds of his supporters have been detained over charges varying from violence, murder, jailbreak and spying.

Morsi himself was sentenced to death in a jailbreak case. The sentence could still be appealed.
   Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
  4/1/16