Police killings during a riot in Egypt last year led to a mass trial on Tuesday wherein an Egyptian court sentenced 188 people to death after proving that they took part in the deadly actions.

The mass sentencing marks the third time that death sentence was issued in a court in Giza. These people are allegedly supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and were charged with the killing of the eleven police officers.

Like Us on Facebook

The riot happened when the members of the Muslim Brotherhood attacked a police station located in the town of Kardasa in August 2013. Thousands of Muslims were camped out in the Rabaa al-Adawiya Square in support of ousted president Mohamed Morsi before the attack happened. Kardasa has been the center of Islamist militancy and the attackers reportedly fired rocket-propelled grenades.

A defense lawyer released a statement saying there was not enough evidence to prove that the 188 sentenced individuals personally killed the officer and most of them were given access to legal service, making the claims of the defendant invalid. Also, defense witnesses were barred from the courtroom.

The mass trial came days after a court in Cairo, Egypt referred to a procedural technicality that dismissed the charges of the former president, Hosni Mubarak. The latter was accused of spearheading police shootings of the unarmed demonstrators three years ago.

Rights advocates argue that Mubarak's case should also be applied to the Islamist defendants. The death sentences just prove how biased the Egyptian court's sytem is, the advocates added.

According to Sarah Lee Whitson, the Middle East and North Africa director of the Human Rights Watch, the sentence is another piece of evidence that the Egyptian government is just using the judiciary branch as a political tool to prosecute their enemies and free whoever they want to free.

This is not the first time that an Egyptian court handed down death sentences to members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Before the court will finalize the death sentences for last year's police killings, Europe's official Muslim religious authority will still review them, giving the 188 people time to appeal. Also, two of the accused already died in prison and one is ineligible for the sentence because he is still a minor.

Tagspolice killings, Death Sentence, Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt, Egyptian court, hosni mubarak, mass trial