Egypt military court awards life term to 4-year child

In response to the public outcry, Egyptian military authorities admitted that a military court has “mistakenly” sentenced a four-year-old Ahmed Mansour Korani, in four counts of murder, eight of attempted murder, vandalizing property, disturbance of peace and threatening police officers.

The father of the child appeared on an Egyptian privately-owned channel to recount his ordeal, after he had been remanded into custody for four months of pending investigations against his four-year son.

“The moment they reached his home, the officers asked for Korani but his father told them the suspect you’re looking for, is a baby. The officer thought the father was poking fun at him and dragged the father to jail, keeping him in custody for four months of pending investigations. He was later released when the judge realized he was innocent.”

The father’s appearance on TV sparked uproar among social media users, prompting a military spokesman the next day to confirm that an “error” has occurred, and that the little boy’s name was wrongfully included among a list of defendants who were all given life sentence at a military court in Cairo.

The list includes 116 defendants accused of the offences committed in January 2014 in the province of Fayoum, 70km south of Cairo.

Colonel Mohamed Samir said that the military court conviction was actually meant for a 16-year-old boy with a similar name, Ahmed Mansour Korani Sharara.

The colonel said the 16-year-old boy, whose whereabouts remain unknown, is accused of all the above charges during his participation in riots by Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Fayoum in January 2014.

It remains unclear if the “mistake” committed by the military court will be fixed and how the rest of the trial will turn in favor of the child.