CAIRO – Sep 5 (Aswat Masriya) – Egypt’s acting prosecutor general ordered on Saturday the referral of 35 defendants accused of killing a high-ranking police officer in April to the military judiciary, the prosecution said.  

The incident occurred on April 21 in the Cairo neighbourhood of Helmeyet al-Zaytoun when unidentified gunmen shot dead police officer, Wael Tahoun, and a conscript.

Out of the 35 defendants, 24 confessed to “belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood” and their membership in “operations cells” which target police officers and civilians collaborating with security apparatuses, the prosecution said in a statement.

Investigations revealed the involvement of the international organisation for the Muslim Brotherhood in coordination with other religious groups to establish an alliance “which issues instructions to spread chaos nationwide,” said the prosecution.

The aforementioned alliance was supportive of former president Mohammed Mursi. The president, who hails from the Brotherhood, was ousted in July 2013, following mass protests against his rule.

Bombings and shootings targeting security personnel have surged since Mursi’s ouster.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree in October 2014 referring crimes committed against the state's public and "vital" facilities to the military judiciary.