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A judge sentenced to death 683 alleged supporters of the country's ousted Islamist president over acts of violence and the murder of policemen in the latest mass trial in the southern city of Minya, Egypt, Monday, April 28, 2014.
The verdicts - which were appealed by general prosecutor- come as the military-backed government has launched a massive crackdown against Islamist supporters of ousted leader Mohammed Morsi, under the banner of "war against terrorism" while tightening its grip on the Arab world's most populous nation.
Of the 683, all but 68 were tried in absentia.
The government has conducted a series of mass trials of Brotherhood supporters after a crackdown in which hundreds were killed and nearly 16,000 detained. It also branded the Brotherhood a terrorist group, a claim the group denies.
Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division, said the defendants were not given the chance to properly defend themselves. The proceedings went on without the judge even verifying that the defendants were present, she said.
"The fact that the death sentences can be appealed provides little solace to hundreds of families that will go to sleep tonight facing the very real prospect that their loves ones could be executed without having an opportunity to present a case in court," she said. "There is no more serious violation of the most basic right of due process and the right to a fair trial than that."
