Seven convicts sentenced to death over ties with IS

CAIRO – 16 September 2017: Seven defendants were initially sentenced to death over charges of forming a “terrorist” organization affiliated to the Islamic State (IS) militant group and involved in killing 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya.

The Cairo Criminal Court, which was held in the Institute of Low-Ranking Police Officers Tora, stated that the decision should be referred to Grand Mufti Shawki Allam to take his advisory opinion over the death sentence. It set September 25 as the date for final ruling.

The prosecution charged the defendants with joining a terrorist cell in the Egyptian Mediterranean city of Mersa Matruh governorate, near Libyan borders; receiving trainings in IS camps in Syria and Libya, possessing firearms and ammunition, and inciting violence. The prosecution also charged a number of the defendants with involvement in the slaughter of 21 Copts in Libya.


The Islamic State (IS) group is a jihadist militant group, found in a number of Arab countries, mainly Iraq and Syria, where it was designated a terrorist organization. In November 2014, Ansar Bayt al-Madqis, an extremist group based in Egypt’s North Sinai, disclosed allegiance to IS, and changed its name to Sinai Province.