Crackdown concern

SOMETIME soon, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Mursi, may be hanged. That would be an injustice, considering the sham trial which landed him here

Egypt’s relentless and sweeping crackdown on Islamists, under the baseless contention they are inherently dangerous, is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Executing Mursi would make a martyr of an underwhelming former statesman and send an unfortunate signal to Egyptians that taking up arms might be the only way to be heard.

A surge in terrorist attacks during the past two years suggests armed violence is increasingly becoming an acceptable response. Earlier this month, a judge survived a bombing outside his house in a Cairo suburb.

Mursi was sentenced to death, along with more than 100 codefendants, after being convicted of playing a role in a jailbreak during the nation’s popular uprising in January 2011.

Mursi was then a mid-level leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement which renounced violence in the 1970s and became the dominant political force after the revolt. He was among scores of Muslim Brotherhood members who broke free from jail after being unfairly detained.

Egypt’s grand mufti still has to approve of the death sentences.

The US, which provides the Egyptian government with military aid each year, should be concerned about the long-term ramifications of the crackdown on Islamists.