The Cairo Criminal Court decided on Saturday to refer the papers of the defendant “Karim”, 36, the al-Tagamoa Serial Killer responsible for killing three women to the Grand Mufti to approve his execution, and set the session of September 12 to read the verdict.
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 accused was allowed for the first time during Saturday’s session to leave the dock and speak before the media, and make his confessions included in the investigations of the Public Prosecution and the police report and investigations of the security services.
The defendant identified himself and said that he studied “Business Administration” and lived in the US, and came to Cairo and settled there for about 10 years.
He taught English at one of the language schools in Egypt, and created a profile on a social media site.
The presiding judge decided to return the accused to the dock again, after his speech that lasted for about 10 minutes.
For about two and a half hours, the court listened to the defense of the accused, who demanded that the case be re-investigated, stressing that his client is mentally ill and psychopathic, demanding that he be referred to forensic medicine and a committee of psychiatrists to examine his mental soundness.
The lawyer said that his client did not target his victims who do not have a home, but the opposite, evident from the fact that the victims were living in his house located in one of the compounds in the Katameya area as he spent lavishly on them from his own money.
He lawyer continued that “We are facing a strange case, which we need to study socially, and this is not to obstruct the course of the case, and if it is proven that my client is not mentally ill, he will be sentenced to death by hanging, because in the end I am not an opponent of society.”
The lawyer argued that his client: “Did not intend premeditated murder, as a mentally ill person feels remorse after committing crimes, and I previously said that the victims went to him of their own free will.”
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
