The United Nations has urged Egypt’s appeals court to overturn mass death sentences handed down by a lower court yesterday. United Nations human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet described the sentence as an “unfair trial”.
The former Chilean President, who took office as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights last week, also criticized an Egyptian law that gives immunity from future prosecution to senior military officers.
An Egyptian court on Saturday delivered death sentences to 75 people over a 2013 sit-in that ended with security forces killing hundreds of protesters. Bachelet said in a statement that if the sentences are carried out, it would represent a gross and irreversible miscarriage of justice.
According to her, defendants were denied the right to individual lawyers and to present evidence, while “the prosecution did not provide sufficient evidence to prove individual guilt. She urged the Egyptian Court of Appeal to review this verdict and ensure that international standards of justice are respected by setting the sentence aside.
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