Cairo court sentences man to death by hanging for killing 3 Egyptians in Doha
Published: 10 September 2024
The accused was in Qatar for the FIFA 2022 World Cup tournament
NT Bureau
Doha
The Cairo Criminal Court on Sunday sentenced a 43-year-old Egyptian to death by hanging for killing three Egyptians in Qatar in April last year.
The final verdict came after the Egyptian Mufti ratified the sentence.
The accused was in Qatar for the FIFA 2022 World Cup tournament and decided to stay to look for a job.
During his stay in Qatar, he befriended the three Egyptians, who welcomed him to their home as he tried to get a job. As his stay prolonged, the hosts decided to send him back to Egypt and booked a ticket for him.
But the accused ended up killing three Egyptians after devising a plan to steal from them and flee.
“I saw them putting their money in a safe at home. I decided to drug them and steal from them and escape,” he said.
He convict placed a sedative in the drinks of his two hosts but the victims soon woke up to find the convict robbing them.
“They were dizzy and unable to move, so I was able to attack and kill them,” the convict said. “After that, their friend walked in and saw them dead, and when he tried to confront me, I stabbed him with a knife.”
He fled Qatar and was arrested in Egypt, where the trial took place.
According to reports in Egyptian media, the convict was indifferent to the trial.
“The accused arrived at the North Cairo Criminal Court in Abbassia, in preparation for the verdict hearing. He appeared in the cage before the verdict session began, not caring about the trial, smoking cigarettes, laughing and pointing to his sister with his hand,” a report in Egyptian media said.
The convict has decided to appeal the death sentence.
Sunday’s final judgement follows an earlier decision by the court in July to seek a Shariah-based opinion from a Mufit on the death penalty. The media had reported at that time that the convict collapsed in shock upon learning of the court decision, as he feared the Islamic legal authority would approve death sentence.
