CAIRO — The spokesman of the Egypt presidency denied Monday that the president ratified death sentences passed on 14 men convicted in connection to 2011 militant attacks in the Sinai.
Ehab Badawi said in a statement that any such reports were “baseless.”
Egyptian state TV reported earlier that the presidency had ratified the death sentences.
The extremist Monotheism and Jihad group was blamed for attacks on police, soldiers, and a bank near al-Arish, the provincial capital of North Sinai.
During their trials in 2012, six of the men were present in the courtroom, while another eight were fugitives. Four other men in the case were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Insurgent attacks in the Sinai have spiked since the 2013 toppling of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Another group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis or Champions of Jerusalem, has claimed many of them.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.