An Egyptian court sentenced 529 supporters of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi to death on March 24 for killing a police officer. Today protestors from CODEPINK took their objections to the Egyptian Embassy in Washington, DC: “The trial was clearly a sham and your government, which has jailed over 16,000 people since coming to power, is clearly targeting people based on political affiliation.”
According to the Washington Post, this is the largest capital punishment case on record in Egypt:
The alleged supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi were convicted on charges of killing a single police officer, the attempted murder of two other officers, and attacking a police station in the Nile Valley city of Minya in August. Sixteen people were acquitted.
The mass sentencing underscored the severity of an ongoing campaign by Egypt’s military-backed leaders to silence opposition, eight months after a military coup ousted Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected leader.
The Shadow Cabinet of the Green Party called for an end to U.S. military aid to Egypt, which it describes as “a destabilizing element in an unstable situation.” Furthermore, it contends that U.S. military aid to Egypt is illegal under the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act for two reasons: the al-Sisi regime took control of the country by military coup, and the two-day trial sentencing 529 people to death is a gross violation of human rights.
Earlier this month, CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin was detained and brutally assaulted at Cairo’s airport, then deported to Istanbul.