AKIPRESS.COM - The United Nations human rights office said Tuesday it is deeply alarmed by the imposition of the death penalty against 529 people in Egypt on Monday after a “cursory” mass trial in which the majority of defendants were not present in court, the UN Press Center reported on March 25.

“The astounding number of people sentenced to death in this case is unprecedented in recent history,” Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told a news conference in Geneva.

“The mass imposition of the death penalty after a trial that was rife with procedural irregularities is in breach of international human rights law.”

The 529 defendants were convicted of various charges, including membership of an unlawful organization (the Muslim Brotherhood), incitement to violence, vandalism, unlawful gathering and the killing of one police officer. All the charges relate to events in August 2013 after the Government of President Mohamed Morsi was ousted. Mr. Colville pointed out that this was several months before the Muslim Brotherhood was declared by the Egyptian authorities to be an unlawful organization. The exact charges against each defendant are unclear as they were not read out in court.