Egypt court confirms death sentence for Brotherhood head, 11 others
A Cairo court confirmed death sentences for Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and 11 other defendants on Saturday, and a US-Egyptian citizen was jailed for life over Islamist protest violence. Judge Mohamed Nagy Shehata also sentenced to death two Islamists who have fled the country, and he handed life terms to 23 detained defendants. The defendants were accused of plotting unrest from their headquarters in a sprawling Cairo protest camp in the months after the military overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. Among those sentenced to life in prison was Mohamed Soltan, a US-Egyptian citizen who is on hunger strike. His father Salah Soltan was among the 11 detainees sentenced to death. Soltan's family called for Mohamed's immediate release in a statement after the verdict, charging that there was no evidence against him. The US embassy, in a statement, said it was "gravely concerned" about Mohamed Soltan and would "continue to m