Clashes erupt in Egypt after mass death sentence
- 10 years ago
Students take to the streets in Alexandria Tuesday in protest after 529 members of the Muslim Brotherhood were sentenced to death Monday.
The ruling signals that the crackdown on the Brotherhood is intensifying ahead of presidential elections that army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is expected to win.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) STUDENT PROTESTING, MAHA ABDEL AZIZ, SAYING:
"This is the beginning of an escalation, and we will stop the police. We will not be quiet. We are here today against military rule and we all are chanting together."
As violence erupts in other parts of Egypt, the U.S. is calling the sentences quote "unconscionable."
The Brotherhood -- which is believed to number about 1 million in a population of 85 million -- has been declared a terrorist group by the government.
The ruling signals that the crackdown on the Brotherhood is intensifying ahead of presidential elections that army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is expected to win.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) STUDENT PROTESTING, MAHA ABDEL AZIZ, SAYING:
"This is the beginning of an escalation, and we will stop the police. We will not be quiet. We are here today against military rule and we all are chanting together."
As violence erupts in other parts of Egypt, the U.S. is calling the sentences quote "unconscionable."
The Brotherhood -- which is believed to number about 1 million in a population of 85 million -- has been declared a terrorist group by the government.