Twenty one of the original 73 defendents in the Port Said football riots trial have been sentenced to death, Al Arabiya reported on Saturday.
A further five are set to spend life in jail with 28 so far acquitted and six given a 15-year sentence, including former Port Said security chief, Esam Samak.
The verdict follows that of an earlier trial in January where 21 additional defendants were sentented to death.
The defendants are all acccused of the killing of 72 football fans at the stadium riot in the Egyptian port city in February last year. At the match between Cairo’s al-Ahly and local team, al-Masry, spectators were crushed after a pitch invasion by local supporters.
The court decision has been a mute point for locals as protests against the trial have raged across the city. The unrest has seen fatal clashes between police and demonstrators, who have called for the overthrow of the Egyptian government.
President Morsi was said to be considering handing over control of the city to the military, effectively putting martial law in place.
