A view of the High Court of Justice in Cairo, Egypt (Reuters)
Cairo Criminal Court has sought the non-binding opinion of Egypt's Grand Mufti on preliminary death sentences passed down on six defendants out of 70 others on charges of murder, terrorism, and forming and joining a terrorist group, in the 2013 case known as the “Kerdasa Public Resistance Committee” trial.
The court has set 19 June as the date to issue a preliminary verdict on the six defendants.
The prosecution in the case referred the defendants to court over charges of forming and operating a gang called “The Public Resistance Committee in Kerdasa and Nahia" (districts in Greater Cairo) in defiance of the provisions of the constitution and the law, with the aim of preventing state institutions from carrying out their duties via the use of terrorism and violence to achieve their goals.
They were also charged with the murder of three people, including a police conscript, as well as the possession of firearms, ammunition, TNT explosives, and using of force against public servants.
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