One regressive trend in Egypt since the overthrow of President Mubarak is that civilians are increasingly being tried by the military. Military courts have "almost entirely supplanted the civilian judiciary for criminal prosecution", according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).

On Monday, the Supreme Military Court issued death sentences against for people accused of kidnapping and assaulting a young woman. One of the four sentenced to death is a minor aged 17 – which, as EIPR points out, contravenes both Egyptian law and international law.

"The death sentence issued against the minor ... illustrates the ignorance of the military judiciary in civil and criminal law alike," a legal officer for EIPR said.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 18 May 2011.