Ahmed
Mansour Karni, a 4-year old child, will be spending the rest of his life in
prison following a court ruling in western Cairo on Tuesday.
The little boy was
convicted in absentia for several charges, including murder, reports Ventures
Africa. Going by the timeline of events that led to the alleged crimes the
youngster is being convicted for, Karni was about 2-years old at the time, as
they occurred two years ago during the riots and demonstrations of January 3
2014. But his name was on a list of over a hundred people “wanted” for murder,
disturbance of the peace and damaging state property.
Prior
to the ruling, a defense attorney, Faisal al-Saud, who said that Karni’s name
ended on the list by mistake, presented the child’s birth certificate to the
court, but it appears the material was not transferred and that the presiding
judge did not review the case. “The child, Ahmed Mansour Karni’s birth
certificate was presented after state security forces added his name to the
list of accused, but then the case was transferred to the military court and
the child was sentenced in absentia in an ensuing court hearing,” said the
lawyer.
Although
Karni’s birth certificate proves that he was born in September 2012, the court
indictment states that the child is guilty of murder – four counts, attempted
murder – eight counts, threatening security forces and vandalizing property
belonging to the Egyptian Health Administration and vehicles belonging to
security forces. How can a two-year old commit these crimes?
In response to Karni’s ruling, Egyptians took to social media
blasting the government and the clearly dysfunctional legal system, accusing
them of corruption and injustice. An angry Egyptian lawyer, Mohammed Abu
Huraira, said that the court decisions can’t be appealed; he issued a response
to the ridiculous judgement saying, “On the eve of injustice and madness in
Egypt, a four-year old child was sentenced to life imprisonment. He is accused
of disturbance, damage to property and murder. The Egyptian scales of justice
are not reversible. There is no justice in Egypt. No reason. Logic committed
suicide a while ago. Egypt went crazy. Egypt is ruled by a bunch of lunatics.”
-Vanguard
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