Egpytian Justice

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Harsh sentences have been handed down against members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Source

Nearly 683 have been sentenced to death, with 37 others having had a similar sentence confirmed -- over 700 in total.

So is it harsh justice so as to squelch a possible civil war, or payback time....or a little of both?

[Fragony]

Pretty damn rediculous, not that I like them, but it doesn't go beyond not calling an ambulance. Killing so many is madness, yay arab spring.

[HoreTore]

The old regime is back with a vengeance.

Fragony is still living with severe delusions.

[Husar]

There were already 5xx sentenced to death about a month ago or so, but their sentences were now turned into life in prison.
Of course it's ridiculous, they are all blamed for the deaths of 2 policemen during some protest or so.

[Fragony]

The old regime is back with a vengeance.

Fragony is still living with severe delusions.

Yeah, I am the one who believed in such a thing as an arab spring, I am way too cynical for that. Only leftist cheer-monkeys saw any change they could believe in. The rest of us knew better than that.

[Papewaio]

Whoa time out this isn't the spring. It's the old school hard line back in power... It's the group that is anti-spring with the death sentences.

Btw very crafty in the sentencing. Life is too harsh, but since it is a commute from a death sentence it isn't so bad now...

[HoreTore]

There were already 5xx sentenced to death about a month ago or so, but their sentences were now turned into life in prison.
Of course it's ridiculous, they are all blamed for the deaths of 2 policemen during some protest or so.

Most of them will probably be out in a few years tops, and I see it as highly unlikely that the death sentences will actually be carried out. Heck, if they did, it would be a massacre.

Still, the message sent by the government is crystal clear. They have not come to protect Egyptian democracy from the Brotherhood, they have come to spread terror and crush any resistance mercilessly, old-school style.

One would think that the good ol' days of the Cold War despots were at an end as they can no longer find a strong ally in the US or USSR; sadly it seems we won't be rid of these imbeciles for some time yet.

[Kadagar_AV]

I wouldnt mind a source?

[Husar]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...510336199.html

Minya, Egypt - An Egyptian judge has sentenced 683 alleged Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death, including the group's supreme guide, Mohamed Badie, and confirmed the death sentences of 37 of 529 alleged supporters previously condemned.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Six of one, half a dozen of the other - have the regime that executes you for trying whisky, or the one that executes you for speaking ill of the government.

What you have here is a perverse reflection of a two-party system like the US, the majority don't want either - but they end up supporting one because they fear the other.

[Greyblades]

The fascistic millitary junta is killing off the hardline borderline insane reigious fundies. Frankly, I am so jaded with the entire affair I can only see it as a net positive that the two are more focussed on killing eachother than anyone I might actually sympathise with.

[Fragony]

Bordeline insane religious nutjob supporters, quite the difference. Killing someone for rioting, good show there. The brotherhood is scum but their supporters aren't necesarily scum. All these sentences should be revoked unless there is a REALLY good reason, this is madness.

[HoreTore]

The fascistic millitary junta is killing off the hardline borderline insane reigious fundies. Frankly, I am so jaded with the entire affair I can only see it as a net positive that the two are more focussed on killing eachother than anyone I might actually sympathise with.

The people in question here can't be deemed "hardline religious figures", they're ordinary people. They are going after the leaders as well, but these guys aren't leaders.

My prediction is that the common supporters will be terrorized and then released, while they either whack or keep the leadrs.

[Greyblades]

My prediction is that the common supporters will be terrorized and then released, while they either whack or keep the leadrs.

I hope that's it, with the current climate in the middle east I half expect massacring them all would just restart the civil war.

[HoreTore]

I hope that's it, with the current climate in the middle east I half expect massacring them all would just restart the civil war.

Executing over a thousands commoners sounds extremely brutal and unlikely.

Then again, unlikely things do happen... Al-Sisi may well be a butcher.

If he is a butcher, he will have to slaughter many more than just a thousand. As Machiavelli said, you either need to appease or destroy. A thousand deaths won't destroy, and it definitely won't appease.

[Fragony]

Executing over a thousands commoners sounds extremely brutal and unlikely.

Then again, unlikely things do happen... Al-Sisi may well be a butcher.

If he is a butcher, he will have to slaughter many more than just a thousand. As Machiavelli said, you either need to appease or destroy. A thousand deaths won't destroy, and it definitely won't appease.

I don't expect these executions will be carried out either, but it's obviously extreme intimidation. They have a reason to be angry really, Morsi was democratically elected. The army also has a point as Morsi wanted to build it of, army doesn't like that , it's almost a holy duty for them

[Rhyfelwyr]

Just in case there was any doubt that these were the actions of a tyrannical military junta, it should be noted that they have also banned the secular pro-democracy group that triggered the initial protests against Mubarak. From the BBC:

Also on Monday, a court banned a youth group that helped ignite the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

The decision passed in Cairo to outlaw the April 6 pro-democracy movement was based on a complaint that accused the group of "tarnishing the image" of Egypt and colluding with foreign parties.

Ahmed Maher, the group's leader, was sentenced to three years in prison in December for violating a law that bans all but police-sanctioned protests.

I remember very well when Morsi was toppled how people made excuses for the coup and said it was about defending secularism and human rights. Turns out it was really just about putting another junta in power and un-doing the revolution.

[Strike For The South]

But guys what about the Arab springzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Seamus Fermanagh]

What are the chances of a Constitutional Monarchy headed by Fuad II? Emulate Jordan, which seems to be the only non-basket case in the region.

[HoreTore]

What are the chances of a Constitutional Monarchy headed by Fuad II? Emulate Jordan, which seems to be the only non-basket case in the region.

I'd say "none whatsoever".

I'm also rather unsure what a return to the 40's will help.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Not sure it would, just thinking that the current state of affairs is doomed to a repeat of previous events ad nauseum unless they break the cycle and put in different institutional structure of some kind.

[HoreTore]

Not sure it would, just thinking that the current state of affairs is doomed to a repeat of previous events ad nauseum unless they break the cycle and put in different institutional structure of some kind.

The old monarchs were the reason the Saddam batch of dictators gained power.

You would only add another step to the cycle, it won't break anything.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

The old monarchs were the reason the Saddam batch of dictators gained power.

You would only add another step to the cycle, it won't break anything.

A constitutional monarchy might provide some sense of stability while avoiding the idiotic kleptocracy that was Farouk. Or it might end up being the kind of silly repeat you suggest.

Oh, and Nasser and S. Hussein are at least a half generation off from one another, not to mention the different cultural issues unique to Egypt.

[HoreTore]

A constitutional monarchy might provide some sense of stability while avoiding the idiotic kleptocracy that was Farouk. Or it might end up being the kind of silly repeat you suggest.

Oh, and Nasser and S. Hussein are at least a half generation off from one another, not to mention the different cultural issues unique to Egypt.

Saddam's coup, sure. The Baath party beginnings, nah.

...and I sense that you do not live under a monarch... They might seem all Disney from a distance, but up close you can easily see their incompetence, inbreeding and corruption.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Saddam's coup, sure. The Baath party beginnings, nah.

...and I sense that you do not live under a monarch... They might seem all Disney from a distance, but up close you can easily see their incompetence, inbreeding and corruption.

well, the latter is the problem.

[Montmorency]

Yeah, nothing wrong with keeping it in the family!

[Fragony]

...and I sense that you do not live under a monarch... They might seem all Disney from a distance, but up close you can easily see their incompetence, inbreeding and corruption.

Garcon! Bring forth the guillotine!

Monarchs, screw them.

[lars573]

...and I sense that you do not live under a monarch... They might seem all Disney from a distance, but up close you can easily see their incompetence, inbreeding and corruption.

I live under a monarchy too. And the corruption and incompetence I see are from the elected politicians.

What are the chances of a Constitutional Monarchy headed by Fuad II? Emulate Jordan, which seems to be the only non-basket case in the region.

The only way to emulate Jprdan would be to put a member of the Hashmite dynasty who's also a trekkie on the throne. And I'm pretty sure there's only one of those.

[HopAlongBunny]

No need to abandon the metaphor.
Arab Spring => the Terror => Military consolidation under a "strong man".
I simply await the inevitable ruinous "march on Moscow".

[Noncommunist]

Yeah, nothing wrong with keeping it in the family!

And a time honored tradition in Egypt. Just ask anyone from Ptolemy I-XV.