Egypt's Court Upholds Death Penalty for 28 People Over Killing of Top Prosecutor

Cairo's criminal court approved death penalty for 28 people who have been found guilty of killing Egypt's Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat in 2015, according to media reports.

CAIRO (Sputnik) — Cairo's criminal court has approved the capital punishment for 28 people who have been found guilty of killing Egypt's Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat in 2015, local media reported Saturday.

Other 15 indictees were sentenced to life imprisonment, eight people to eight years in prison and 15 more to 10 years in custody, the website of the Dostor newspaper said.

The preliminary sentence was announced on June 17, and in line with the Egyptian legislation the decision on death penalty should be approved by country's Grand Mufti.

Barakat was killed on June 29, 2015 in Cairo by a car bomb near his home. The official died later from injuries.

No organization claimed responsibility for the attack, however, the Interior Ministry said that the Muslim Brotherhood (terrorist organization banned in Russia) was behind the attack, which was carried out with the assistance of the Palestinian group Hamas.

Overall, 67 people were involved in the organization of the assassination of the official, who was responsible for the investigation of high-profile criminal cases on prison escapes, where one of the defendants was former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.