The Cairo Criminal Court on Monday referred the papers for the defendant charged with killing three Egyptians in Qatar to Egypt’s Grand Mufti for approving the execution.
The court set September 8 session to read the verdict against the defendant.
Referral to the Mufti is required in the Egyptian court system ahead of any death sentences even though the mufti’s opinion is advisory, not binding.
The defendant, 43, worked as a ceramic tiler from Shubra al-Kheima in Qalyubia Governorate.
He was accused of murdering the first two victims while they hosted him in their place of residence in Qatar during the FIFA World Cup on 2023.
The defendant stabbed the victims in various parts of their bodies with a knife, which caused the injuries described and shown in the forensic report attached to the investigations.
The referral order to trial of the Public Prosecution stated earlier that this crime was coupled with another felony which came after, when the defendant then targeted Abdel-Salam Mahrous Mohamed.
Mohamed was murdered out of the suspect’s fear that his previous crime would be exposed.
The referral order included that the defendant committed the two felonies with the intention of facilitating the commission of a misdemeanor theft, as he stole items belonging to the victims.
He seized their mobile phones and laptop, and also acquired and maintained a bladed weapon without legal justification.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
