Ismailia Criminal Court on Saturday adjourned its final verdict in the case of a man murdered while praying inside a mosque until 13 December while waiting for an opinion from Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, according to a MENA report.
Last month, the court initially sentenced 19 defendants, 17 of them in absentia, to death, but the court said that it sent the verdict to Egypt’s grand mufti for his opinion on whether or not Sharia is applicable to the verdict, in accordance with the law.
Some legal commentators have said the muft’s opinion almost always comes in favor of the judge’s verdict.
Prosecutors for the case said the defendants, armed with knives and metal pipes, waited for the victim inside the mosque and then beat him to death during night prayers. Prosecution also charged them with desecration of the mosque.
Investigations have shown that the killers are the relatives of another person who died in a fight with the victim's cousin.
The case caused uproar in Ismailia, where people were shocked at the nature of the crime and the fact that it took place inside a place of worship.
