Egypt court upholds life sentences over plot to kill Sissi

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee palace, Monday, December 7, 2020 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee palace, Monday, December 7, 2020 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

An Egyptian military court upholds life sentences for 32 people accused of plotting to kill President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and a former Saudi crown prince, their lawyer says.

The court “decided to reject all appeals” and uphold the verdict for all but two defendants, whose sentences were reduced to 15 years, Khaled al-Masry writes on Facebook.

A life sentence in Egypt is capped at 25 years’ imprisonment.

The defendants were charged with setting up “terrorist cells” that committed crimes including planning to assassinate Sissi and Saudi Arabia’s former crown prince and interior minister, Mohammed bin Nayef.

Excerpts from a public prosecutor’s investigation in 2016 published in local media revealed the defendants were plotting to assassinate Sissi and the crown prince while they were on a pilgrimage to the Islamic holy city of Mecca in 2014.

It became locally known as the “Sissi assassination” case.

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