Human rights groups are trying desperately to reverse the sharp increase in capital punishment cases in Egypt, but they are struggling to keep pace.

On Tuesday Judge Shaaban al-Shami confirmed that Morsi –following an initial sentencing on 16 My 2015 – will face death by hanging for taking part in a mass prison break during the 2011 uprisings which eventually brought him to power.

He was also one of 21 defendants sentenced to an additional life sentence on espionage charges.

The Grand Mufti, Egypt’s highest official of religious law, has been asked to review the decision, but his opinion is not binding.

The civil society group Against the Death Penalty condemned the court’s initial 16 May verdicts against Morsi and others.

"We were shocked to learn that the government sentenced more than 120 people to death for spying and breaking into prisons. The condemned included two dead people and one person imprisoned in Israel for life,” the group said in a statement.

Amnesty International criticised the May trials as a “charade based on null and void procedures,” and called for retrials in a civilian court.

Mass trials “near-routine”

The convictions follow similar trials in recent months.

In February, 183 people were sentenced to death after being convicted of attacking police and the military, and 188 others were sentenced in December 2014 for the killing of 11 police officers.

“Issuing mass death sentences whenever the case involves the killing of police officers now appears to be near-routine policy, regardless of facts and with no attempt to establish individual responsibility,” says Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty’s deputy Middle East and North Africa programme director.

Though there is no official count of the number of death sentences in Egypt, Amnesty has said that in the first half of 2014 at least 1,247 defendants were referred to the Grand Mufti on the issue.

And though the Mufti’s opinion is not legally binding, it is customary for the court to adopt them.

The statement added that during the same period 247 death sentences were ratified. In both cases the defendants were either members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the formerly banned Islamist organisation of which Morsi is a key member, or supporters.

The gravity of the number is clear when compared to the figures mentioned in a report by Cornell University.

The report indicates more than 700 people were sentenced to death in Egypt between the years 1981 and 2000, and 248 people were executed.

However, since 2007 at least 396 people were sentenced to death and nine were executed. While in 2010, 185 individuals were sentenced to death and four were executed.

Local activism

Dr. Reem Saad, a university professor and activist with Against the Death Penalty tells Equal Times that the death penalty should be ruled as inhumane and outlawed.

“Most countries abolished this penalty, or are on their way to do so, and that’s for a reason. This penalty violates the right to life which is the most basic of all human rights,” she says.

“Furthermore, there is no evidence that the death penalty deters crime. And this penalty is irreversible: once implemented there is no going back if new evidence appears to prove the defendant is innocent, unlike other penalties,” she adds.

But the arguments from Saad, Amnesty and Against the Death Penalty are not easily found in the Egyptian mainstream, where many people feel it is an appropriate punishment for certain crimes.

Supporters of the death penalty in Egypt argue that it is a necessary last-resort judicial mechanism, particularly as the country is facing such unstable times.

It is seen as the method to counter what they describe as “terrorism” practiced by members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.

“The right to a just trial for all citizens without discrimination is, however, the only guarantee that murderers, rapists and terrorists can be held to account; without these guarantees, society will be ruled by the law of the jungle,” Amnesty said.

Lawyer and researcher Ahmed Ezat says he is concerned over the independence of the Egyptian legal system, arguing that this raises doubts on the fairness of trials and verdicts.

“There are several indicators showing the dominance of the political authority over the legal one,” he tells Equal Times.

“The legal system is used as a tool to avenge political opponents in a very tumultuous political environment.

“We can never be sure that defendants, especially political ones, will get a fair trial,” Ezat adds. “So the least we can do is to demand stopping the death penalty, as it is irreversible.”