Egypt court sentences 6 to death for 2016 'violence'

CAIRO (AA) - An Egyptian court on Wednesday handed death sentences down against six people convicted of having committed violent acts -- including murder -- in 2016, according to a local judicial source.

The Cairo Criminal Court will confirm its decision on Aug. 28 after referring the case to Egypt’s grand mufti, the country’s highest religious authority, for his non-binding opinion.

The six were convicted of establishing a “terrorist cell” and killing a policeman in 2016 during an armed attack on a security checkpoint north of capital Cairo.

The convicted individuals, for their part, deny the charges, describing them as “politically motivated”.

Egypt has been roiled by turmoil since the ouster of Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first freely elected president, in a 2013 coup.

Since his overthrow, numerous supporters of Morsi and his (now outlawed) Muslim Brotherhood group have been killed while thousands of others have been thrown behind bars.