Egypt to hang 17-year-old youth

CAIRO, May 18 (UPI) -- A local rights group criticized a decision by Egypt's Supreme Military Council to execute a 17-year-old youth and three others for kidnapping a young woman.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights is pushing for the military to reconsider the sentence handed down to the four convicted of kidnapping and assaulting a young woman, and called for immediate action, Bikya Masr.com reported Wednesday.

"The death sentence issued against the minor (identified only as) A.M.M. ... illustrates the ignorance of the military judiciary in civil and criminal law alike," Adel Ramadan, a legal officer at the organization said.

The Egyptian Child Law, the Code of Military Justice and international law state the death penalty cannot be applied to those under 18, the Web site said.

"The sentence contravenes Article 8 of the Code of Military Justice, which states that no minor may be tried before a military court unless a partner in the crime falls under the jurisdiction of the Code of Military Justice as defined in Article 4 of the same law. This condition does not apply in the current case as all the defendants are civilians," the Web site reported.

"The danger is even greater when the military judiciary, with its susceptibility to errors, begins determining whether a person is deserving of life. This is starkly clear in the case of A.M.M., whose life, dreams and ambitions may be abruptly ended at the age of 17, and thus demands that we reconsider the case," Ramadan said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/05/18/Egypt-to-hang-17-year-old-youth/UPI-14111305720985/.