12 Death sentences in Egypt and retrial of Alaa Abdel Fattah and 24 others postponed

Abdel Fattah and family

 An Egyptian court sentenced on Wednesday 12 defendants to death over charges of killing a police officer in Giza's Kerdasa neighborhood last September, 10 others got life imprisonment and  only one was acquitted.
The authorities had raided Kerdasa last September to capture fugitives when Nabil Farag, Giza's deputy security chief, was killed and nine others, from the police and army, were wounded.
The operation had followed an attack on Kerdasa police station on August 14 that took place as the authorities dispersed two sit-ins supporting ousted President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood. The court referred the defendants' files to the Grand Mufti, the top religious authority, in June. The Mufti's decision is non-binding yet it is customary for the court to adopt it. The verdict can be appealed before a higher court.
Another Egyptian court on Wednesday postponed the retrial of political activist and blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah to September 10, alongside 24 other defendants.Abdel Fattah and the 24 other defendants were sentenced to 15 years in prison in June for violating last year’s protest law, among other charges.
The retrial is taking place amid the detention of three defendants arrested after the issuance of the initial verdict; Abdel Fattah, Mohamed Nouby and Wael Metwalli. Mahmoud Belal, among the defendants’ lawyers, said the court refused to release the three defendants pending their trial.