The sentencing of 183 Muslim Brotherhood defendants to death on Monday by the Giza Criminal Court in the case known as “Kerdasa Massacre” is the fifth time a mass death sentence has been issued against members of the Brotherhood.
Another defendant was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while two other defendants were acquitted, and charges were dropped for two others who died before sentence was issued.
The first mass Brotherhood death sentence was by a military court in 1954 after the assassination attempt of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, a case known as the “Manshiya Incident.” The court sentenced seven Brotherhood members to death, including their supreme guide Hasan al-Houdeiby. Yet Houdeiby’s sentence was reduced to life imprisonment, then to house arrest.
The second time was in 1965 when seven members were sentenced to death, including Sayyid Qutb, the spiritual father of the group at the time.
More recently, the third incident was last March when the Minya court sentenced 528 members of the group to death for storming the Matai Police Station.
The fourth mass death sentence was in April when the Minya Criminal Court sentenced 683 members to death, including their supreme guide Mohamed Badie.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
