The Zagazig Criminal Court referred 12 defendants to Egypt's Grand Mufti on Thursday to issue an opinion over sentencing them to death for forming an "Islamic State-affiliated terrorist cell."
The defendants were charged with forming a "terrorist" group and an armed "gang," possessing "extremist" publications, calling for toppling state institutions and stalling the constitution, committing violent acts, receiving foreign funding for "terrorism," harming "national unity and social peace," and striving to recruit young men.
According to Homeland Security's investigation, the owner of a contracting office in Sharqiya formed a "terrorist cell" which sent young men to Syria and Iraq, where Daesh (ISIS) militants are fighting for territory, to receive trainings on the use of weapons.
Trained "cell members" then return to Egypt where they carry out "terrorist operations" targeting security forces, Christian citizens and churches, according to the investigation.
Referring defendants to the Grand Mufti is a procedural step which must precede sentencing them to death. The Mufti's opinions are not legally binding, yet it is customary for the court to adopt them.
Militants have stepped up attacks targeting security forces in Egypt, particularly in the Sinai peninsula, since the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 after mass protests against his rule.
The Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, Egypt's most active militant group, pledged allegiance to Islamic State fighters last November, changing its name to Sinai Province.
This story has been edited from the source material.
