Cairo Criminal Court on Tuesday referred the documents of 21 defendants in the “Damietta Terrorist Cell” case to Grand Mufti Shawky Allam before sentencing them to death.
The court set the final verdict date to February 22 for the 28 defendants in the case, 16 of them being tried in absentia.
A referral to the mufti is required in the Egyptian court system ahead of death sentences, even though the mufti’s opinion is advisory, not binding.
Cairo Criminal Court started hearings in the case in April 2016. The prosecution referred the defendants to trial on charges of establishing a terrorist group, intention to disrupt state institutions and to destroy public and private properties.
They were also charged with manufacturing explosive materials and explosive devices and obtaining five automatic guns and ammunition without authorization.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
