Facts about Rabaa sit-in dispersal case

CAIRO – 28 July 2018: Cairo Criminal Court referred the papers of 75 defendants in the case known publicly as “Rabaa sit-in dispersal" to Egypt’s Mufti (top religious authority) for religious consultation on their execution.

Egypt Today presents important facts about the case in points below for easy briefing.

The court set 67 case hearings until its final decision has been issued.

Among the 75 defendants sentenced to death Saturday are members of the top Muslim Brotherhood guidance bureau Essam el-Erian, Safwat Hegazy, Mohamed el Beltagy, Usama Yassin, Essam Maged, Abdel Rahman al-Barr, Issam Sultan, Basem Odeh, Wagdy Ghoneim.

“The court decided unanimously to refer the defendants to the Mufti for legal opinion in relation to the accused," the court said in the referral decision.

Sentencing photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zaid (Shawkan) and 738 other defendants has been postponed to Sept. 7, as per today’s court ruling.

The defendants are charged with staging an armed gathering in Rabaa square, illegally possessing and handling weapons, blocking driveways, and deliberately vandalizing public property along with other counts relating to murdering policemen and citizens.

On Aug. 14, 2013, security forces set out to disperse the Muslim Brotherhood sit-in in Nasr City’s Rabaa al-Adawiya, along with another sit-in located in Nahda Square, Giza.

Following the Rabaa sit-in dispersal on Aug. 14, 2013, the city of El Idwa in Minya governorate witnessed acts of violence and vandalism, during which a police station was attacked and a police officer was killed. In April 2014, the Minya Criminal Court sentenced all defendants to death. However, a retrial was ordered after overturning the ruling by the Court of Cassation.