The court is seeking the non-binding opinion of Egypt’s Grand Mufti on the preliminary death sentences, per the country’s Code of Criminal Procedure.
The Public Prosecution’s investigation said the defendants led between the period of 14 August 2013 and 2 February 2015 a group that was founded in violation of the law with the purpose of disrupting the constitution and the state’s laws, hindering the functioning of the state’s institutions, assaulting the personal freedom of citizens, and harming national unity and social peace.
Those sentenced on Sunday include Yehia Moussa, the former health ministry spokesperson, who is accused of co-orchestrating the assassination of former prosecutor-general Hisham Barakat in 2015.
Moussa left for Turkey on the heels of the ouster of late Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, with media reports stating recently that Turkish authorities have prevented him from leaving the country, as Ankara seeks to restore ties with Cairo after years of deterioration.
The court is set to issue its final verdict on 19 June.
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