Amid political unrest following the July 2013 removal of Mohamed Morsi from presidential office (which itself occurred following mass protests against his rule), a court sentenced 683 suspected Muslim Brotherhood members to death on 28 April 2014, including the group's supreme guide, Mohammed Badie, and confirmed the death sentences of 37 of 529 alleged supporters previously condemned.
Judge Saeed Youssef first attracted international condemnation and prompted an outcry from foreign human rights groups after he handed down the initial sentence for the 529 defendants on March 24, following a brief trial perceived as having been marked by irregularities.
Egyptian law requires that death sentences be confirmed by the presiding judge after reviewing the opinion of the Grand Mufti of Egypt, the country's leading official legal expert on religious matters.
[11][12] Amnesty International's annual global review of death penalty usage ranked Egypt as the world's third most frequent executioner in 2020.
Egypt executed at least 107 people in 2020 following trials that Amnesty International has called "grossly unfair" and confessions perceived as forced, as lawyers could not meet their clients or conduct proper investigations due to the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
[14] The British newspaper The Independent has reported that Najia Bounaim of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa division described the court's sentence as "disgraceful" and "a mockery of justice".