Egypt sentences 6 to death over spying for Qatar
A Cairo court sentenced six defendants to death over charges of allegedly leaking classified documents to Qatar, reports said.
|||Cairo - An Egyptian Court on Saturday sentenced to death six people linked to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood on charges of spying and leaking “classified documents” to Qatar, state-run Nile TV reported.
Ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and four other prominent Brotherhood figures are also charged in the case, but the court delayed their verdict till June 18 due over failure to show up in the court room on time, a judge said.
The six convicted defendants include two documentary and media producers with Qatari Al Jazeera channel.
Morsi was convicted in three other cases to death, a life sentence and 20 years in prison.
According to the prosecution, Morsi and the other 10 co-defendants had leaked “classified documents” to Qatar.
The documents allegedly contained secrets on “national security,” and were allegedly traded with the Qatari intelligence for a million dollars.
On May 17, Morsi and 106 supporters of his Muslim Brotherhood received death penalties over a mass jail break following the 2011 uprising that ousted the long time ruler Hosni Mubarak.
The ousted Islamist president, along with Brotherhood guide Mohamed Badei and other seven members of the group, was sentenced to life in prison for conspiring with foreign militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah against Egypt’s national security.
Another court sentenced him to 20 years in prison for clashes that erupted outside a presidential palace in December 2012 between his supporters and opponents, which killed up to 10 people.
Morsi was toppled by the army in 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule. His Muslim Brotherhood group has been designated as a terrorist group.
Hundreds of the group received death and life sentences, mostly over violence, murder and spying charges.
Xinhua