Cairo Criminal Court referred on Wednesday a lawsuit accusing 26 people of plotting terrorist attacks at the Suez Canal to the country's Grand Mufti, a judicial measure that practically means a death sentence.
The final verdict is set for 19 March.
The 26 defendants referred to the Mufti, are all at large and were prosecuted in absentia. The court ruling, adopted on the trial’s first session, did not include an additional, 17-year-old defendant.
Reuters quoted a judicial source saying that the case dates back to 2010, when the defendants were arrested but later escaped prison during the 2011 uprising.
Authorities accused the defendants of promoting assaults on the Suez Canal, police forces, army forces, Coptic citizens and their properties, and tourists. The were also found guilty for making explosives and possessing firearms.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
