Egyprian court sentences 20 to death for police killings

Cairo April 24 (IANS/AKI) An Cairo court on Monday upheld 20 death sentences against suspected Islamists over the killings of 12 policemen in an attack on a police station near Giza in August 2013 reports said.

The Cairo criminal court will issue it final verdict against the suspects on June 2 following a ruling from the country s Grand Mufti the country s highest Islamic authority the daily Al-Ahram reported on its website.

The defendants are alleged to have attacked a police station in Kerdasa close to the pyramids at Giza in the aftermath of the army s overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi .

The 12 police officers were among 15 people killed in the attack during which the suspects allegedly mutilated the policemen s bodies as well as those of two civilians tried to kill 10 other policemen and wrecked the police station Al-Ahram said.

A criminal court in February 2015 issued a death sentence against 183 people found guilty of
involvement in the attack 34 of whom were tried in absentia.

A total of 149 defendants appealed the death sentence and are currently undergoing retrials.

--IANS/AKI
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