An Egyptian court is sentencing 28 people to death over the killing of a top prosecutor and jailing 15 others for 25 years each.
Hisham Barakat was killed in a car bomb attack on his convoy in Cairo in 2015; an operation for which Egypt blamed the Muslim Brotherhood and Gaza-based Hamas militants, though both groups have denied it.
Defense lawyer, Ahmed Saad said outside court that the verdicts were shocking.
“Even Gamal Khairy, who is blind, was sentenced to 15 years. Others who had nothing to do with the assassination of the martyr Hisham Barakat, received life sentences. They were unrelated to the incident. We were surprised that the verdicts were so severe.”
Some implicated in the assassination say their confessions were forced under torture.
Saturday’s sentences came after consultation with the Grand Mufti, the country’s top religious authority.
Egypt faces an Islamist insurgency led by Islamic State in North Sinai, where hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed.
The group has increasingly targeted Christians with church bombings and shootings.
