Egypt adds two to death row

According to a report from Egypt's state news agency on Saturday, a court in Alexandria has given two supporters of deposed former President Mohammed Morsi the death sentence. The two men had been convicted of throwing youths from the roof of an apartment building during violence that followed the ouster of the Islamist president, Morsi.

Two young men died in the incident, which occurred just after Morsi was deposed on July 3 of last year. Images of the men being thrown from the roof, along with scenes of the defendants raising a black flag often used by militants, were aired many times on national television.

The newspaper Al-Ahram reported that an additional 61 people (some pictured above) were also on trial in Alexandria for the violence that followed Morsi's downfall, but those verdicts would not be given until May 19.

The death sentences for the two men sentenced on Saturday will be submitted for approval to the mufti, the government's official interpreter of Islamic law. This is customary for cases involving the death penalty.

On Monday, 529 supporters of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood were sentenced to death for an incident that resulted in the death of a police officer. The verdict drew international condemnation.

mz/jm (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)