Eight sentenced to death in Egypt over 2013 police station assault

Cairo: An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced eight persons to death over charges of breaking into a police station in 2013, the media reported.

The defendants were convicted of assaulting a government institution, setting it ablaze, wounding 19 policemen and civilians, and burning 20 police and three private cars, Xinhua news agency reported.

The court referred the sentence to Grand Mufti, the country`s highest Islamic official who will give the religious judgment of all preliminary death sentences.

The Mufti`s opinion is non-binding as it is usually considered a formality.

The court will give its final sentence against other 60 accused with the same charges in October.

The case dated back to August 2013, when the Brotherhood members broke into some police stations, killing security men in retaliation for the police`s crackdown on the supporters of the Islamist President Mohamed Morsi who was ousted by the army in response to mass protest against him.

Morsi along with prominent figures of his Brotherhood group were sentenced to death over killing protesters, spying for foreign countries amid other charges.