Defence lawyers boycotted the last session, branding it “farcical” after the mass death sentencing which the United Nations denounced as a breach of international human rights law.
Lawyer Elkomy claims that 60 percent of the 529 defendants, including teachers and some doctors, have evidence that “proves they were not present the day they were accused of attacking the Matay police station” in Minya, a statement by human rights group Avaaz said.
The government has defended the court’s handling of the first mass death sentences, insisting that the sentences were passed only “after careful study” and were subject to appeal.
Prosecutor Abdel Rahim Abdel Malek defended the charges against the 529. READ: 700 Egypt Islamists in court after mass death sentences.
“We have strong evidence that incriminates all those sentenced to death,” he told AFP.
“We have videos, witness accounts… documents that prove that the Muslim Brotherhood had called on its supporters to attack police stations and public and private property in case the sit-in at Rabaa al-Adawiya (in Cairo) was broken up, and that’s what happened,” he said.
Last month’s death sentences sent a chill through opponents of the military-installed regime, which has held mass trials of thousands of alleged Islamists since Morsi’s ouster.
At least 1,000 people have been sentenced since December, all in groups of 10 or more. Jail terms passed range from six months to life, as well as the death penalty.
Amnesty International says that more than 1,400 people have been killed in the police crackdown since the army overthrew Morsi, Egypt’s first elected and civilian leader.
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