A state-of-the-art execution machine designed by @Ternz to help Egypt execute 529 Muslim Brotherhood supporters

Egypt today [March 24] sentenced 529 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death for their roles in violent riots in Minya, in Upper Egypt, last August.

The riots broke out following a crackdown on sit-ins in support of ousted president Mohammed Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood leader, which left hundreds of supporters dead.

The Minya riots left one police officer dead – a crime all 529 defendants are accused of.

In Egypt, the sentence, one of the largest death sentences in modern history, was both rebuked or lauded, depending on which end of the political spectrum the reactions came from. Mada Masr tallies up reactions here.

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia says this sentence, for which a final verdict is due to be issued on April 28, breaks a new world record.

She explains:

We got the highest number of HCV [Hepatitis C] patients in the world , we got the highest rate of sexual harassment in the world and today we broke a record in a mass-death sentence by a court in one single case !!
I am speaking about the historical court rule of Minya criminal court against 529 defendants , yup the one which the whole world is speaking about.

Zeinobia adds:

I will speak about fact here :

529 defendants were sentenced to death and 15 were acquitted in the Rabaa dispersal aftermath in Minya trial.
139 were detained in the case while the rest were either released on bail or on the run.
Only 51 defendants attended the trial because the space could not hold more defendants.
The trial started on Saturday and ended on Monday.
The lawyers of the defendants demanded to replace the Judges panel but their request was rejected.
The lawyers of the defendants “not in absentia” were not allowed to defend their defendants !!
The 529 defendants are accused of killing deputy Sheriff Mostafa El Attar of Matay Police Station !!
This is the biggest mass death sentence in the history of Egyptian judiciary.

Egypt-based journalist Bel Trew wonders:

Can't imagine how you would even hang 529 people.If it just took 5 mins to hang 1 person that's over 44 hours of continuous slaughter #Egypt

— Bel Trew – بل ترو (@Beltrew) March 24, 2014

And Egyptian @Ternz, who admits to starting to draw cartoons only two weeks ago, has come up with a solution: a state-of-the-art execution machine.

He explains [ar]:

و انا قاعد في قعدة صفا كده..سألت نفسي..ازاي اخدم بلدي؟ ازاي افيد بلدي و اساعدها..؟؟ مسكت قلم وبدأت أصمم جهاز مصر محتاجاه في الفترة دي..-1

— سلفي ومش بكرهك (@Ternz) March 24, 2014

While I was sitting in a relaxed state of mind, I asked myself: How can I best serve my country? How can I benefit it and help it? So I took a pen and designed a machine Egypt needs in this phase

And here's his masterpiece:

إسهاماً مني في تنفيذ أحكام الإعدام بكفاءة..اتمني جهازي دي يلقى اهتمام المسؤلين ..و دي قمة الإعدام العلمي… pic.twitter.com/50B3sRUgBi

— سلفي ومش بكرهك (@Ternz) March 24, 2014

As a contribution from me in competently implementing the execution sentences, I hope that this device interests the officials. This is a state-of-the-art execution machine

Meanwhile, UK-based journalist Inigo Gilmore concludes:

Egypt wants tourists to return, as it cages journalists like animals & sentences 100s others to death in sham trials? pic.twitter.com/suTyNEcSeE

— Inigo Gilmore (@InigoGilmore) March 24, 2014