Hanging is too good for Morsi, says government-supporting lawyer
Blog: The notorious Egyptian lawyer Samir Sabry has called for the government to burn the corpses of executed Muslim Brotherhood members.
2 min read
18 Jun, 2015
Sabry on Sabah Al-Assema earlier this month [YouTube]
If it were possible to kill someone twice, Dr Samir Sabry would be advocating it.
The ubiquitous pro-government lawyer and TV pundit is well-known for his bizarre statements and anti-Muslim Brotherhood sentiments.
His latest outburst? The death sentences handed down to hundreds of Brotherhood members aren't harsh enough - their corpses should be burned after they are hanged, he argued in a rant replete with outright racism.
"We will not annul executions, on the contrary, we want to make them worse," he told an Egyptian television channel.
"I have asked that we execute them, and then go a bit Indian on them, hang them and burn them...
"They are burning us, so we have to give them a taste of their own medicine. We want the hearts of the mothers, wives and children of those executed to burn with pain."
The ubiquitous pro-government lawyer and TV pundit is well-known for his bizarre statements and anti-Muslim Brotherhood sentiments.
His latest outburst? The death sentences handed down to hundreds of Brotherhood members aren't harsh enough - their corpses should be burned after they are hanged, he argued in a rant replete with outright racism.
"We will not annul executions, on the contrary, we want to make them worse," he told an Egyptian television channel.
"I have asked that we execute them, and then go a bit Indian on them, hang them and burn them...
"They are burning us, so we have to give them a taste of their own medicine. We want the hearts of the mothers, wives and children of those executed to burn with pain."
Sabry is not often dismissed as a fringe commentator, but is recognised and respected as a leading opinion-maker in the country. His violent rhetoric has many observers worried about the further entrenchment of social divisions turning to greater violence.
On Tuesday, An Egyptian court upheld a death sentence against the ousted Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, for "plotting jailbreaks and attacks on police" during the 2011 uprising.
He is one of hundreds of Brotherhood members and supporters that have been sentenced to death in speedy mass trials.
Sabry said that human rights groups "only care about certain people".
"They make a fuss when a Brotherhood member is killed but not when soldiers and officers are killed by terrorists," he said.
The Brotherhood, now blacklisted in Egypt as a "terrorist" group, has been accused of having a hand in the Islamist insurgency in Sinai, in which hundreds of police and soldiers have been killed since the military coup in July 2013.
Sabry is well-known in Egypt for frank discussions of his beliefs and for the multitude of lawsuits he has filed - he was the civil plaintiff behind suits designating the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas as terrorist groups, as well as cases demanding the government severs ties with Turkey and Qatar for supporting the Brotherhood.
In addition to his apparent bloodlust, Sabry saves some of his ire for Ramadan TV shows.
"They are all kissing, nudity - breasts and thighs - it's as if I am standing outside a KFC...
"People fast all day long and then, after iftar, they watch loose women smoking and drinking beer. I shudder when I see these things in front of my grandkids. Where are women's rights?"
"They make a fuss when a Brotherhood member is killed but not when soldiers and officers are killed by terrorists," he said.
The Brotherhood, now blacklisted in Egypt as a "terrorist" group, has been accused of having a hand in the Islamist insurgency in Sinai, in which hundreds of police and soldiers have been killed since the military coup in July 2013.
Sabry is well-known in Egypt for frank discussions of his beliefs and for the multitude of lawsuits he has filed - he was the civil plaintiff behind suits designating the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas as terrorist groups, as well as cases demanding the government severs ties with Turkey and Qatar for supporting the Brotherhood.
In addition to his apparent bloodlust, Sabry saves some of his ire for Ramadan TV shows.
"They are all kissing, nudity - breasts and thighs - it's as if I am standing outside a KFC...
"People fast all day long and then, after iftar, they watch loose women smoking and drinking beer. I shudder when I see these things in front of my grandkids. Where are women's rights?"
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