No: 130, 28 April 2014

It has been reported that the Minya Criminal Court has announced today (April 28) its decisions whereby it reiterated the previous death sentence regarding 37 people out of 529 that it had previously sentenced to death and commuted the sentences of the remaining 492 people to life imprisonment. It has also sentenced 683 more people to death, although this latter ruling is not yet final.

Such verdicts are incompatible with the universal principles of law, including in particular the right to a fair trial and the right to life and clearly violate the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We call on the international community to react accordingly to these unacceptable rulings.

We wish that the Egyptian judicial authorities will reassess these decisions which will cause additional harm to the peace and well-being of the Egyptian people and damage the international reputation of Egypt, which has a great culture. We also confirm once again that, as always, we stand with the friendly and brotherly people of Egypt during this difficult process.