Egypt sentences 30 to death over attack

A court in Cairo has recommended the death penalty 
for 30 people convicted of involvement in the killing of 
Egypt's top public prosecutor.

Hisham Barakat was assassinated in a car bomb 
attack in June 2015.

He was the most senior state official to be killed by 
militants in recent years.

Mr Barakat had sent thousands of Islamists to trial since 
the overthrow of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood-backed government in 2013.

Hundreds of Islamists were sentenced to death or 
life imprisonment, as part of a crackdown on supporters 
of the banned group.

Egypt blamed the Brotherhood and Gaza-based 
Hamas militants for Mr Barakat's killing, although both 
groups have denied they were involved.

Last year the Interior Ministry released a video 
showing several men confessing to the killing, and 
saying they went to Gaza for training from Hamas. 
Some of them later denied the allegations in court and said they had been tortured.

The court's recommendations will now be sent to 
Egypt's highest religious authority, the grand mufti.

All death sentences have to be sent to the grand mufti 
for his opinion on whether they should stand. But even 
when the grand mufti gives his approval, convictions are still open to appeal.