Egypt hands out death sentences

The Cairo Criminal Court handed death penalties to 10 defendants on terrorism-related charges, while 58 other defendants, including Mohammed al-Zawahiri, brother of al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, had their verdicts postponed until September.

The 10 defendants were sentenced to death for "joining a terrorist group, inciting the killing of police and army officers and attacking police and government buildings," reported AFP news agency, citing a court official.

The verdicts will be passed to Egypt's senior religious authority Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam, who will review the cases and decide whether to ratify the sentences.

Zawahiri's lawyer Khalid Nour al-Deen told DW correspondent Naomi Conrad that his client would likely not receive a death sentence.

"Given that my client has not been handed a death sentence for allegedly being the leader of this group, means the judge agrees that there is no evidence that such a group ever existed," al-Deen said.

Zawahiri's lawyer added that the 10 sentences handed down on Monday were for "individual terror acts."

Out of the 58 defendants awaiting verdicts, 13 were tried in absentia and three have died, according to Egypt's state-run news site al-Ahram Online.

Zawahiri was arrested in August 2013 during a wide-scale government crackdown on supporters of Egypt's first democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi.

In July 2013, Morsi - a senior member of the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood - was ousted by a popularly backed military-coup led by then military chief and current President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi.