The military has finally acknowledged that conviction and then life sentencing 4-year-old Ahmed Mansour Qurani Ali was a mistake by the Egyptian military court. This 4-year-old boy along with 115 other people was accused and convicted of inflicting riots by the supporters of Muslim Brotherhood in Fayoum province in the year 2014. So, the boy was 2-year-old when he participated in rioting and murder. A lawyer took notice of this unfortunate incident and submitted documents that shows that the boy was 2-year-old when the riots took place.
Clearing the controversy, Spokesman Col Mohammed Samir through a Facebook stated that the military court was supposed to sentence a 16-year-old who shares the same name with the 4-year-old. This post clarifies that 16-year-old Ahmed Mansour Qurani Sharara is supposed to be sentenced and not 4-year-old Ahmed Mansour Qurani Ali.
According to the lawyer of the child, his name was put on the suspects’ list by mistake and the court official on a procedural error failed to pass on the birth certificate of the child to the judge. Due to this, the child’s name was never removed from the suspected and later on convicted list. Shockingly, later on the boy was also convicted for killing 4 people, attempting to kill 8 others, and also for vandalising government property.
Incidentally, this is not the first time that such a judgement has been made by the Egyptian military court. Earlier in another case, a blind person was convicted to be a sniper and then sentenced for three years in prison. In fact, in the year 2014, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the death penalty of 683 Egyptian after a mass trial that breached international human rights law.
About the conviction of the 4-year-old child, it is yet not clear what the authorities will do to change the situation.
Story Inputs: BBC