Egypt sentence 30 to death over attack

A court in Cairo has recommended the death
penalty for 30 people convicted of involvement
in the killing of Egypt's top public prosecutor.
Hisham Barakat was assassinated in a car bomb
attack in June 2015.
He was the most senior state official to be killed
by militants in recent years.
Mr Barakat had sent thousands of Islamists to
trial since the overthrow of Egypt's Muslim
Brotherhood-backed government in 2013.
Hundreds of Islamists were sentenced to death
or life imprisonment, as part of a crackdown on
supporters of the banned group.
Egypt blamed the Brotherhood and Gaza-based
Hamas militants for Mr Barakat's killing, although
both groups have denied they were involved.
Egypt's chief prosecutor killed
Hamas 'linked to 2015 Egypt killing'
Paying the price for seeking freedom in Egypt
Last year the Interior Ministry released a video
showing several men confessing to the killing,
and saying they went to Gaza for training from
Hamas. Some of them later denied the
allegations in court and said they had been
tortured.
The court's recommendations will now be sent
to Egypt's highest religious authority, the grand
mufti.
All death sentences have to be sent to the grand
mufti for his opinion on whether they should
stand. But even when the grand mufti gives his
approval, convictions are still open to appeal.