EgyptAir plane hijacker sentenced to life

CAIRO - 25 September 2019: Alexandria Criminal Court sentenced EgyptAir plane hijacker to life on Tuesday as he was charged by the Public Prosecution of committing the crime for terrorist purposes.

Convict, Seif El Din Mostafa, was referred to court on December 5 after his repatriation by Cyprus in August 2018. The incident dates back to March 2016 when he boarded a plane heading from Alexandria to Cairo and threatened he would blow up the jet, if the pilot did not change the direction.

The hijacker was wearing a fake explosive belt, however, the plane landed in Larnaca International Airport in the Cypriot capital, Nicosia. None of the crew members or the 55 passengers was harmed.

After his arrest, Mostafa claimed he hijacked the plane in order to reunite with his Cypriot family he has not met for 24 years. The hijack was detected few minutes after take-off from Borg El Arab International Airport as contact with the plane was lost.