Egyptian court recommends death penalty for 31 in prosecutor assassination case

Cairo: A Cairo criminal court on Saturday recommended the death penalty for 31 people convicted of involvement in the 2015 assassination of Egypt`s top prosecutor, the most senior state official killed by militants in recent years.

The court set a verdict session for July 22, after referring its recommendation to the country`s top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for a non-binding legally required opinion.

Public Prosecutor Hisham Barakat was killed by a car bomb attack on his convoy in Cairo two years ago, an operation for which Egypt blamed the Muslim Brotherhood and Gaza-based Hamas militants, though both groups have denied the charge.