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The mass trial is not all that surprising or new, as this is something Egypt has been doing for a while now, and for which it has been widely criticized. The handing down of “collective” death sentences on dozens of accused has drawn condemnation from the United Nations and the EU, among others. According to an article in The Guardian, the U.S. State Department has called mass verdicts “unconscionable.”
The 292 suspects are believed to members of 22 terrorist cells that carried out 19 attacks over the last few years, including the killings of three judges overseeing election in northern Sinai. Sinai borders Gaza, Israel, and the Suez Canal, and would be a prize for ISIS should they be able to claim it.
The trial is not the first such mass trial, but it is somewhat unique in that there are six former Egyptian police among the defendants, who came into conflict with their superiors over their decision to grow beards after falling in with militant Islamic groups. Placed on reserve while still officers, they subsequently committed the alleged actions. That there are former police officers among the defendants gives some scholars reason to think that there may be something more to this trial than simply silencing political opponents, which Egypt has been accused of in recent years.
While the government maintains that they need to be hard on Islamic terrorist groups like ISIS and those affiliated with it, the rest of the world has reason to be unsure. Since 2013, when the current government took power, tens of thousands of people have been detained in harsh Egyptian prisons, where it has been alleged that they are tortured and denied access to due process and denied other human rights. Thousands have been sentenced to death and executed.
In the meantime, groups keep allying themselves with ISIS or claiming to be part of that group and continue to launch terrorist attacks, which implies that Egypt’s handling of the situation has not been particularly effective.
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