Egypt sentences 8 foreigners to death for smuggling tonnes of heroin via Red Sea

​​A court in Egypt has sentenced eight foreigners and two Egyptians to death on charges of smuggling into the country over two tonnes of heroin by sea, according to a judicial source.

Authorities seized the drugs brought in via the Red Sea, worth around 2.5 billion pounds ($159m), in 2019, AFP reported. 

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Seven Pakistanis, two Egyptians and an Iranian were convicted for having stashed the drugs, which also included nearly 100 kilograms (220 lbs) of crystal methamphetamine, in a hidden storage room aboard a ship, the source added, without giving details on where the shipment originated.

Capital punishment for civilian convicts in Egypt is carried out by hanging.

The ruling can be appealed within two months.

Human rights groups have routinely slammed Egypt's "significant spike" in recorded executions, which saw a more than threefold rise to 107 last year, from 32 in 2019.

Egypt carries out the world's third-highest number of executions, after China and Iran, according to Amnesty International.

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So far, at least 51 men and women have been executed in 2021 alone. 

When a court sentences a defendant to death, they are first given a preliminary sentence before their case is referred to the grand mufti, who issues an opinion. Though non-binding, these opinions can be influential, and the trial judge will take them into consideration before confirming the sentence.

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Cases can be appealed before the Court of Cassation, Egypt’s highest court. If this fails, the president of the country then has 14 days to approve or commute the sentence.

Many of those executed as of late have been described by rights groups as "prisoners of conscience", detained over their opposition to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's government. 

According to the Geneva-based Committee for Justice rights group, at least 92 Sisi opponents - namely those accused of affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood - have been executed since 2013, and final death sentences have been issued for 64 others who may be executed at any moment.

In July, 21 Muslim Brotherhood members were sentenced to death. The court convicted the group of several crimes, including the alleged bombing of a bus transporting police officers in the coastal Beheira governorate in 2015. The attack killed three policemen and wounded scores of others. Nine of those sentenced are in jail, while seven are at large.