EGYPT: COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE IN GENERAL’S MURDER CASE

September 9, 2024:

The Egyptian Criminal Court upheld the death sentence on September 3, 2024 against Essam Abdel Majeed, who was convicted of killing Major General Nabil Farag. The sentence was confirmed after being approved by the country’s highest Sunni Muslim authority, a requirement for any execution to be carried out.
Abdel Majeed, known as Abu Hamza, was sentenced in absentia along with others for the murder of Farag, who was the Assistant Director of Giza Security. He was killed on 19 September 2013 during violence that erupted when police stormed the town of Kerdasa near Cairo and arrested dozens of supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi. The general was shot dead when security forces exchanged fire with Muslim Brotherhood supporters in the area.
The Egyptian Court of Cassation had previously rejected the appeals filed by twelve detainees against the death and hard labour sentences handed down to them. The authorities executed three of the detainees after a final ruling from the Court of Cassation.
The court has also commuted the death sentences for four detainees to life in prison or 25 years, and upheld the 10-year hard labour sentence against five others, making all sentences final and binding.
Local and international legal and human rights organisations and institutions condemned the death sentences being imposed in Egypt against opponents of the Sisi regime, saying that they are politically motivated.