Brussels, 30/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - During the evening of Tuesday 29 April, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton criticised the court of Minya's recommendation (Egypt) the previous day to sentence 683 people to death. The court had made a similar recommendation for another 529 people at the end of March (see EUROPE 11046). The 683 people - including the supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie - are supporters of the deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi and are accused of acts of violence and of killing police officers. Only about 50 of them are in prison - the others have either been released on bail, have fled or are dead. Ashton stated that it is “of particular concern” that, as regards the first wave of 529 people, the recommended sentence has been confirmed in the case of 37 people. The others have had their sentences commuted life imprisonment.
“These mass trials are clearly in breach of international human rights law”, Ashton stated. “The exact charges against each defendant remain unclear, the proceedings lack the most basic standards of due process and the verdicts appear grossly disproportionate, falling short of complying with the principle of individual sentencing”, she added. According to the NGO Human Rights Watch, the trial only lasted a few hours and the defence lawyers did not have the right to speak. Ashton thus reiterated the EU's call to the Egyptian authorities to ensure, in line with international standards, the defendants' rights to “a fair and timely trial based on clear charges and proper and independent investigations”, and to ensure the right of access to, and contact with, lawyers and family members. The EU had previously made this request at the time of the trial of the 529 people in March.
Human rights violations.
Ashton also underlined that the EU was observing “a very worrying trend” regarding the compliance of Egypt with its international human rights obligations, as well as “the seriousness of Egypt's transition towards democracy, which requires a legal and judicial framework respecting international human rights standards”. She therefore called on the Egyptian authorities to “immediately reverse this trend which jeopardises any prospects for overcoming divisions within society and to ensure progress towards a truly democratic, stable and prosperous Egypt, through a political process open to all citizens”. On 26-27 May, 53 million voters will vote to choose their president from between the minister for defence and former commander in chief of the Egyptian armed forces Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, and opposition activist and left-wing politician Hamdine Sabahi. (CG)