News / International
Toddler sentenced to life in prison
25 Feb 2016 at 12:32hrs | Views
AN EGYPTIAN toddler has been sentenced to life in prison by the country's military court. This is despite the army stating the actual suspect is a 16-year-old teenager with the same name.
The three-year-old boy, Ahmed Mansour Qorani Sharara, was convicted last week with 107 others for allegedly killing three people and sabotaging public and private property.
Newes24 reported that the incidents took place during the time of the overthrow of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
The incident was perpetrated by outlawed Islamist group the Muslim Brotherhood.
The problem is that Ahmed was only one-year-old at the time the alleged crimes took place.
The Egyptian military said in a Facebook post it was a case of mistaken identity following uproar after Ahmed's conviction. It stated that the authorities had actually meant to try a teenager (16) with the same name. That too may also be incorrect though, according to The New York Times.
Police spokesman Abu Bakr Abdel-Karim said in a television interview that the wanted culprit was actually the toddler's 51-year-old uncle, whose name is similar to Ahmed's.
The boy's father, Mansour Qorani Sharara, made a distraught plea on national television to the military not to take him away.
"I swear I don't want to upset anyone," Mansour Sharara told TV station Elebrashy while crying.
"They told me they will take my child. No one will take my child."
Police had allegedly taken Ahmed's dad into custody when they first tried to arrest the boy. It happened after the cops realised that Ahmed was still a toddler.
The contradictions between the cops and military statements have made many observers and criminal justice experts question the state of the country's justice system. The army is yet to apologise to the family for the distress.
The three-year-old boy, Ahmed Mansour Qorani Sharara, was convicted last week with 107 others for allegedly killing three people and sabotaging public and private property.
Newes24 reported that the incidents took place during the time of the overthrow of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
The incident was perpetrated by outlawed Islamist group the Muslim Brotherhood.
The problem is that Ahmed was only one-year-old at the time the alleged crimes took place.
The Egyptian military said in a Facebook post it was a case of mistaken identity following uproar after Ahmed's conviction. It stated that the authorities had actually meant to try a teenager (16) with the same name. That too may also be incorrect though, according to The New York Times.
The boy's father, Mansour Qorani Sharara, made a distraught plea on national television to the military not to take him away.
"I swear I don't want to upset anyone," Mansour Sharara told TV station Elebrashy while crying.
"They told me they will take my child. No one will take my child."
Police had allegedly taken Ahmed's dad into custody when they first tried to arrest the boy. It happened after the cops realised that Ahmed was still a toddler.
The contradictions between the cops and military statements have made many observers and criminal justice experts question the state of the country's justice system. The army is yet to apologise to the family for the distress.
Source - NEWS24
