An Egyptian court sentenced 183 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) to death on Monday on charges of killing police officers, as authorities continued their crackdown on Islamists.
The men were convicted of playing a role in the killings of 16 policemen in the town of Kardasa in August, 2013 during the upheaval that followed the army’s ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. Thirty four were sentenced in absentia, Reuters reported.
Egypt has mounted one of the biggest crackdowns in its modern history on the Brotherhood since the political demise of Morsi, the country’s first democratically-elected president.
Thousands of MB supporters have been arrested and put on mass trials in a campaign which human rights groups say shows the government is systematically repressing opponents.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who as army chief toppled Morsi, describes the Brotherhood as a major security threat.
Hundreds of death sentences have been passed on Morsi’s supporters since but none have been carried out. More than 140 of the 188 defendants are already in custody, while the rest have been sentenced in absentia.
The court also sentenced a minor to 10 years in prison in the case and two other defendants were acquitted.
