Press release
Committee for Justice
Geneva: January 29, 2023
The Egyptian Court of Cassation on Saturday issued a ruling accepting the appeal of one of the defendants in the case known in the media as the “Imbaba terrorist cell”. The court commuted the death sentence to a life imprisonment.
The appeal was submitted by defendant Mohamed Hussein Mahmoud Gad against the death sentence issued by the Giza Criminal Court.
The Terrorism Circuit had issued a verdict against 12 suspected ISIS members, including 7 who have been released with probationary measures and 5 others in absentia. The case is related to the Ramses security ambush bombing and the targeting of the security service assigned to the National Bank of Egypt on the Batal Ahmed Abdel Aziz Street.
The Supreme State Security Prosecution charged the defendants with “establishing a group in violation of the law aiming at assaulting state institutions, freedom and harming national unity, targeting Christians and desecrating their
blood, disturbing public order, exposing society to danger and attacking the armed forces.” In addition, they were charged with possession of firearms.
The Committee for Justice welcomes the commuting of the death pencalty in this case, calling on the Egyptian authorities to stop the execution of death sentences issued by the Terrorism Court, as it is an exceptional court, and to retry the accused before a normal judge.
CFJ also renewed its call to UN mechanisms and the international community to pressure the authorities in Egypt to stop the execution of the death penalty completely, and to abide by UN and international covenants that it signed, which prohibit the death penalty
