Egyptian court sentences 4 to death for 2015 ‘violence’

By Sayed Fathi

CAIRO (AA) - A military court on Monday sentenced four civilians to death after convicting them of committing “acts of violence” in Egypt’s northern Kafr al-Sheikh province in 2015.

In a press statement, defense lawyer Ibrahim Metwalli said Egypt’s Supreme Military Appeals Court -- the military’s highest appellate court -- had sentenced four people to death, two to 25 years each in jail, and two others to three years each behind bars.

According to Metwalli, Monday’s sentences are final and cannot be appealed.

The case dates back to April of 2015, when a bomb went off outside a sports stadium in the northern city of Kafr al-Sheikh, killing three and injuring two others, all of whom were cadets at Egypt’s Military College.

Egypt has been roiled by violence and turmoil since mid-2013, when Mohamed Morsi -- Egypt’s first freely elected president and a Muslim Brotherhood leader -- was ousted and imprisoned in a bloody military coup.

In the almost four years since Morsi's ouster, the Egyptian authorities have waged a relentless crackdown on dissent, killing hundreds and throwing thousands -- some say tens of thousands -- behind bars.