{relatives collapsed in grief and had to be carried away after hearing the verdict. A large crowd chanted: “Where is the justice?”}
{{A judge at a mass trial in Egypt has recommended the death penalty for 683 people – including Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie.
The defendants faced charges over an attack on a police station in Minya in 2013 in which a policeman was killed.}}
However, the judge reversed 492 death sentences out of 529 passed in March, commuting most to life in prison.
The cases and speed of the hearings have drawn widespread criticism from human rights groups and the UN.
The trials took just hours each and the court prevented defence lawyers from presenting their case, according to Human Right Watch.
The sentences have been referred to the Grand Mufti – Egypt’s top Islamic authority – for approval or rejection, a step which correspondents say is usually considered a formality. A final decision will be issued in June.
Journalists outside the court say relatives collapsed in grief and had to be carried away after hearing the verdict. A large crowd chanted: “Where is the justice?”
Authorities have cracked down harshly on Islamists since President Mohammed Morsi, who belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood, was removed by the military in July.
Hundreds have been killed and thousands arrested.
The verdict was the first against Mr Badie in the several trials he faces on various charges along with Mr Morsi himself and other Brotherhood leaders.
wirestory
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