The death sentence was carried out against former judge Ayman Abdel-Fattah Hajjaj and his accomplice, Hussein al-Gharabli.
They were convicted of murdering media personality Shaimaa Gamal and burying her body in a remote farm in the Badrashin area of Giza.
This followed the final verdict issued by the Court of Cassation, according to the victim’s mother.
The execution came after the Court of Cassation submitted its reasoning for its decision to reject the defendants’ appeal and uphold the Criminal Court’s ruling sentencing them to death by hanging for their conviction of premeditated murder.
The Court of Cassation confirmed that the criminal court’s ruling was based on solid evidence and sufficient circumstantial evidence proving committing the crime, noting that its ruling was based on absolute certainty.
The court rejected the defendants’ arguments that sought to cast doubt on the incident, asserting that the circumstances proved the murder was premeditated and that both parties had agreed to eliminate the victim after she threatened her husband, the first defendant, by exposing his secrets.
The court clarified that the defense’s argument regarding legitimate defense or the first defendant’s psychological disturbance has no legal or medical basis, especially since the defendant admitted before the court that he committed the crime while in full possession of his mental faculties.
It confirmed that the witness statements on which the criminal cases were based were consistent with the Public Prosecution’s description of the incident.
The autopsy report also confirmed that the victim had been beaten and strangled to death, before her body was thrown into a hole the defendants had previously dug inside the farm.
The Public Prosecution charged the defendants in Case #10229 of 2022 with the premeditated murder of Shaima Gamal, after they prepared weapons, digging tools, and incendiary materials to bury the body.
The incident dates back to June 2022, when presenter Shaima Gamal disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Investigations later revealed the involvement of her husband, a former judge, and his partner in luring her to a farm in the Badrashin area, killing her, and burying her.
The presenter’s family posted messages on social media expressing their relief at the execution of the sentence. One of her relatives wrote: “God is great, and praise be to God… just retribution has been carried out against Shaimaa Gamal’s killer.”
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
