By Mohamed ElMessiry, Egypt Researcher at Amnesty International, who attended the sentencing hearing in El Minya
“Welcome to the village of death penalties”, lawyer Ahmed Shabeeb told me as I arrived in the village of Mattay earlier this week. I went there to meet the families of some of the 528 people on trial who would the next day receive confirmation of their sentences, including dozens of death sentences, for their alleged involvement in political violence last year.
