A court in Egypt is keen on executing a convicted murderer to send a message to other would-be killers.
Mohamed Adel was found guilty of killing fellow student, Naira Ashraf, because she rejected his advances.
After she refused to marry him, the 21-year-old organised a gruesome plot to kill her outside the Mansoura University just before she was due to sit her exams.
LBC reports the killer stabbed her repeatedly, jumped on her, and slit her throat in front of everyone who was outside the university that day.
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The man pleaded guilty and was given the death penalty.
But, because of the heinous nature of the woman's murder, a court wants to make Adel an example.
They don't want to just hang him like they do with others who have been sentenced to death. They want it broadcast on national television.
Mansoura Courthouse has written a letter to Egypt's parliament saying a public execution could act as a warning to others who might want to commit a horrific crime.
"The broadcast, even if only part of the start of proceedings, could achieve the goal of deterrence, which was not achieved by broadcasting the sentencing itself," the letter stated.
However, Adel's legal team is still fighting for him. They have revealed there is still time to launch an appeal against the death penalty sentence.
Egypt's preferred method of execution is hanging and the country isn't afraid of giving it out.
Between 2016 to 2018, there were at least 103 executions carried out. Those figures are rough because Egypt doesn't publicly release the number of executions and human rights groups are left to estimate.
In a single day in 2020, there were a whopping 75 people sentenced to death and 47 others given life behind bars for being members of a terrorist group.
Egypt has one of the highest rates of executions, along with Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Iraq.
Philip Luther, Amnesty Middle East and North Africa research and advocacy director said in a statement (via The Independent): “The Egyptian authorities have embarked on a horrifying execution spree in recent months, putting scores of people to death, in some cases following grossly unfair mass trials.
“These executions are particularly appalling given the well documented and systematic breaches of fair trial rights in Egypt, with courts often relying on torture-tainted ‘confessions’."
The last time Egypt had a public execution was back in 1998, according to LBC.
That was for three men who were convicted of killing a woman and her two children in Cairo.
Topics: World News
Stewart Perrie