Egyptian court has condemned 24 Muslim Brotherhood militants to death on Thursday for the murder of police officers in two different incidents, according to judicial sources.
The organization was convicted of multiple offenses by the Damanhour Criminal Court, located north of Cairo, including the alleged bombing of a bus carrying police personnel in the seaside Beheira governorate in 2015.
The incident resulted in the deaths of three police officers and the injuries of a large number of others.
The other case, which involved Brotherhood members and was tried by the same court, involved the 2014 killing of a police officer.
Eight of the 24 defendants were tried in their absence.
In Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, civilian criminals are sentenced to death by hanging.
The verdicts can be overturned, according to the source.
Following the military overthrow of former President Mohamed Morsi, Egypt declared the Islamist organisation illegal in 2013.
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood since spearheading the military takeover and becoming president, imprisoning thousands of its sympathizers.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in Egypt in 1928, advocates for the centralization of Islam in public life.
Despite decades of suppression, it has risen to prominence as Egypt’s largest opposition movement, inspiring a slew of spin-off movements and political parties around the Muslim world.
However, several nations, notably Egypt, have banned it because of its claimed ties to terrorism.
Amnesty International blasted Egypt’s “dramatic jump” in reported executions, which increased by more than thrice from 32 in 2019 to 107 last year.