An Egyptian court sentenced to death Monday 683 supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and one Muslim Brotherhood leader.
Mohamed Badie, general guide of the Brotherhood, was one of the defendants in the mass trial at the court in Minya region of the country. The people were charged with murder and attempt to murder for attacking a police station in Matay last year that left one policeman dead.
The sentences will be forwarded to the Mufti, Egypt's highest religious authority for screening. However, it is not legally mandatory for the court to follow the Mufti's decision, reports Reuters.
The judge also reduced the death sentences of 492 of 529 people passed in March to life imprison. The verdicts in both the trials were issued within a month's time.
Relatives of the people sentenced to death fainted after the verdict.
Both the mass trials have generated protests from the international human rights groups. Navi Pillay, the UN human rights commissioner condemned the trials saying that it violated the international human rights law. A spokesman for Pillay said the "cursory mass trial" was "rife with procedural irregularities," according to BBC.
Defense lawyer Khaled Elkomy said in a statement released by the human rights group Avaaz that 60 percent of the 529 defendants including teachers and some doctors, have evidence that "proves they were not present the day they were accused of attacking the Matay police station."
Another defiance lawyer, Gamal Abdul Hamid, said they will appeal through the Court of Cassation for the sentences ratified on Monday, reports the Daily News Egypt.
Egypt's military-backed government has come down heavily on the Brotherhood supporters since Morsi was ousted last year. It declared the Islamist party a terrorist organisation. Around 1,400 people have been killed in Egypt after Morsi was overthrown, according to Amnesty International.