Cairo: An Egyptian court has requested authorities to allow the execution of a young man, sentenced to death for murdering his female classmate, to be shown on air to achieve deterrence, according to media reports.
On July 6, a criminal court in the Delta city of Mansoura handed down the death sentence to the 21-year-old convict on charges of premediated murder in the case that sent shockwaves across Egypt.
The ruling can be appealed.
The victim, named Naira Ashraf, was knifed to death by her colleague Mohammed Adel outside the state Mansoura University, north of Cairo, on June 20, after she had rejected his marriage proposal.
As part of its explanation for the verdict, the court demanded an amendment to law to allow the broadcasting of the convict’s execution by hanging.
“Hasn’t the time come for the legislator to make implementation of legal [death] punishment be seen as the illegal shedding of blood [murder] was seen?” the court was quoted as saying.
The court said allowing the execution or part of it to be shown on air could help “fulfil the sought-after deterrence”.
But live broadcasting of an execution requires new legislation from the Egyptian parliament and approval from the head of the state, legal experts said.
Under Egyptian law, execution is carried out inside prison in the presence of a deputy prosecutor-general, the prison chief, a doctor and a representative of a religious authority based on the inmate’s religious affiliation.
Executions are banned on religious or official occasions.
The murder of Naira, a sociology student at Mansoura University, has provoked public outrage and grabbed massive media attention in Egypt and beyond.
