EGYPT: BADIE DEATH SENTENCE REDUCED TO LIFE

Egypt's Grand Mufti has commuted the death sentence handed to the Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader, Mohamed Badie, to life sentence. The death sentences for five others were also reduced to life by Shawki Allam, the country's highest religious authority.
Six others have been sentenced to death in absentia. Badie was sentenced to life by a court in June for the killing of police officers during a protest. In an unusual move, prosecutors had asked the religious leader to reconsider. "It is a massive security crackdown aimed at keeping the Muslim Brotherhood out of the political process. A few months ago the Amnesty International called the ruling a mockery of the justice," Shahira Amin, a Cairo-based journalist, told Al Jazeera. "It looks like some judges are handing down these outrageous sentences to stay in favour with the military-backed authorities and to promote their own personal interests." "I would say that this [amendment of the sentence] is also due to street pressure. We've seen Muslim Brotherhood protests continue unabated," she said. "Justice remains elusive in today's Egypt."