WORLD / AFRICA
Egypt court calls for execution broadcast
Published: Jul 25, 2022 08:18 PM
An Egyptian court called Sunday for a legal amendment to allow the live broadcast of the execution of the killer of a female student, as a deterrent to frequent homicides.

In a highly publicized two-day trial, Mohamed Adel was found guilty last month of the "premeditated murder" of fellow university student Nayera Ashraf, who had rejected his advances, after he confessed to the crime in court.

The criminal court which sentenced Adel in Mansoura called on the legislature to amend the law governing capital punishment, in order to ­allow the execution to be broadcast live.

In a letter to parliament, the court argued that "the broadcast, even of only part of the start of proceedings, could achieve the goal of deterrence, which was not achieved by broadcasting the sentencing itself."

Egyptians shared their horror online when a video went viral in June appearing to show Ashraf being stabbed outside her university in Mansoura.

Capital punishment is rarely carried out in public or broadcast in Egypt. In a rare exception, state television broadcast the execution of three men in 1998 who had murdered a woman and her two children in their Cairo home.

High-profile femicides have triggered widespread anger in Egypt in recent months.

In June, the murder of television presenter Shaimaa ­Gamal stirred controversy. Her husband, a senior judicial official, was arrested following a tip-off from an accomplice who confessed to taking part in the crime.