The Shubra al-Kheima Criminal Court on Sunday sentenced 37 Brotherhood supporters to 15 years in prison and fined each LE20,000 for attempting to bomb the College of Agriculture Metro Station during celebrations of the October victory in 2013, smashing the entrance gates of the station and shooting at police forces and residents of the area.
The court also sentenced 38 others to three years in prison and placed them on probation for five years.
In the previous session, the defense had claimed investigations by the public prosecutor contradicted the testimonies of witnesses and challenged the charge that the defendants formed a gang.
The defense also demanded that the constitutional committee members be tried for allegedly destroying the economy and the "socialist system."
The defense claimed that the president and the defense minister fomented strife within society when on 5 October 2013, they called on people to celebrate in the streets. It also claimed that the Interior Ministry assigned street hawkers to arrest the defendants. The defense allegedly asked sarcastically if the ministry had a “street hawkers” department.
The lawyers demanded that the charges be dropped because they contradicted the Constitution, human rights and international conventions signed by Egypt.
They cited former President Hosni Mubarak when he said on 1 November 1993 that “there is an Islamic movement that prefers political struggle to violence and that has dominated social institutions.”
They also cited former Interior Minister Hassan al-Alfi when he said that "the Muslim Brotherhood group members do not commit acts of violence.”
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
