Egypt court sentences 28 to death over 2015 prosecutor killing

Cairo: A Cairo criminal court on Saturday sentenced to death 28 people over the 2015 killing of Egypt`s top prosecutor and handed 15 others jail sentences of 25 years each.

The court had in June recommended passing the death penalty to Egypt`s top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, who can approve or reject the recommendation.

The sentences, confirmed by the court in Saturday`s hearing after the Grand Mufti`s approval, can be appealed.

Public prosecutor Hisham Barakat was killed in a car bomb attack on his convoy in Cairo, an operation for which Egypt blamed the Muslim Brotherhood and Gaza-based Hamas militants. Both groups have denied it.