A court in western Cairo this week sentenced a four-year-old boy to life in prison on various heinous charges, including murder.
According to the freethoughtproject, the boy was"convicted of murder, inciting riots, destruction of government property and threatening cops. Although the boy was less than two years old during the civil unrest in 2014, he was convicted in absentia due to a clerical error and the court’s incompetence.
"Born in September 2012, Ahmed Mansour Karni was swept up in an indictment listing his name along with 115 other defendants accused of participating in riots and demonstrations on January 3, 2014. Despite that fact that Ahmed was only a year and a half old at the time, he was reportedly charged with four counts of murder, eight counts of attempted murder, vandalizing property belonging to the Egyptian Health Administration in his home province of el-Fayoum, threatening soldiers and police officers, and damaging vehicles belonging to security forces. Convicted in absentia, Ahmed was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday."
One defense attorney added that he had presented the child's birth certificate to the court, however "it appeared that the court did not transfer the material."
Lawyer Faisal a-Sayd charged that the presiding judge had not reviewed the case.
"The child Ahmed Mansour Karni's birth certificate was presented after state security forces added his name to the list of accused, but then the case was transferred to the military court and the child was sentenced in absentia in an ensuing court hearing," said the defense attorney.
"This proves that the judge did not read the case," he added.
Another Egyptian lawyer Mohammed Abu Hurira issued a fiery response, writing: "On the eve of injustice and madness in Egypt, a four-year-old child was sentenced to life imprisonment. He is accused of disturbance, damage to property and murder. The Egyptian scales of justice are not reversible. There is no justice in Egypt. No reason. Logic committed suicide a while ago. Egypt went crazy. Egypt is ruled by a bunch of lunatics."
The sentencing also caused a firestorm on social media networks, with users blasting the Egyptian legal system and government of corruption and injustice. A blogger and wife of Egyptian human rights activist Nibin Melek wrote in a post that the sentencing "was a blind decision."
"Born in September 2012, Ahmed Mansour Karni was swept up in an indictment listing his name along with 115 other defendants accused of participating in riots and demonstrations on January 3, 2014. Despite that fact that Ahmed was only a year and a half old at the time, he was reportedly charged with four counts of murder, eight counts of attempted murder, vandalizing property belonging to the Egyptian Health Administration in his home province of el-Fayoum, threatening soldiers and police officers, and damaging vehicles belonging to security forces. Convicted in absentia, Ahmed was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday."
One defense attorney added that he had presented the child's birth certificate to the court, however "it appeared that the court did not transfer the material."
Lawyer Faisal a-Sayd charged that the presiding judge had not reviewed the case.
"The child Ahmed Mansour Karni's birth certificate was presented after state security forces added his name to the list of accused, but then the case was transferred to the military court and the child was sentenced in absentia in an ensuing court hearing," said the defense attorney.
"This proves that the judge did not read the case," he added.
Another Egyptian lawyer Mohammed Abu Hurira issued a fiery response, writing: "On the eve of injustice and madness in Egypt, a four-year-old child was sentenced to life imprisonment. He is accused of disturbance, damage to property and murder. The Egyptian scales of justice are not reversible. There is no justice in Egypt. No reason. Logic committed suicide a while ago. Egypt went crazy. Egypt is ruled by a bunch of lunatics."
The sentencing also caused a firestorm on social media networks, with users blasting the Egyptian legal system and government of corruption and injustice. A blogger and wife of Egyptian human rights activist Nibin Melek wrote in a post that the sentencing "was a blind decision."
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