My word in Arabic كلمتى بالعربى: Egyptian Canadians Condemn Death Sentence for Egypt’s First Democratically Elected President and Dozens of Others

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Egyptian Canadians Condemn Death Sentence for Egypt’s First Democratically Elected President and Dozens of Others

Egyptian Canadians Condemn Death Sentence for Egypt’s First Democratically Elected President and Dozens of Others

- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -

(Ottawa, May 16, 2015) The Egyptian Canadian Coalition for Democracy condemned in the strongest terms today's Egyptian court decision to sentence to death Egypt's democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi along with 105 others including the former speaker of the country's first freely elected Parliament. The charges against Morsi and others relate to the breakdown of some of Egypt's political prisons in the turmoil created at the beginning of the 2011 revolution.

“These verdicts are just the latest in attempts to crush opposition to the military junta in Egypt. No country can thrive with such rampant injustice. We are calling on people and govenments around the world to stand for justice in Egypt and demand the immediate release of Mr. Morsi and others wrongfully convicted and imprisoned in Egypt.” said ECCD spokesperson, Deena Abul Fottouh.

In another verdict involving dubious allegations of espionage, 16 other opponents of the current military junta were sentenced to death including Dr. Emad Shahin, a professor of political science and Sondos Asem. Ms. Asem is a 27 year student of governance at Oxford University.

These mass death sentences come on the heels of two other significant developments in the oblitaration of opposition: (a) an Egyptian court issued ban of the activities of all soccer fan clubs (known as the Ultras) who are known of their political opposition to the country's ousted former dictator, Mubarak and (b) the death of student, Anas Kamal after a one-month coma. Anas was beaten at Cairo University by security guards taking aim at any expression of opposition to the military junta.

“These open and blatant disregards for human and democratic rights cannot lead to long-term stability in Egypt or the region. The current coup regime in Egypt has proven they are incapable to bring either stability or democracy to the country. Western governments must acknowledge this reality and act.” added Ms. Abul Fottouh.

About ECCD: Egyptian Canadian Coalition for Democracy (ECCD) is a politically independent, non-affiliated pan Canadian organization with chapters in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Quebec City, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Calgary, Vancouver, and Kingston, which advocates for democracy and human rights in Egypt.

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