Since Mr Morsi was removed by force in July, there’s been a huge crack down on Islamists and this mass death sentence is the latest manifestation of that squeeze. The Muslim Brotherhood’s spokesman in London, Abdullah el-Haddad says this is evidence that Egypt is now under a tyranny.

Only two sessions in court were necessary to convict the men of their crimes and defense lawyers are complaining that they were given nowhere near enough time to present their case. As you can imagine, when you’re preparing cases for hundreds of defendants there’s quite a bit of paperwork to peruse. The defense accused the judge of “veering away from all legal norms”.

Morsi is currently in court himself for “inciting his supporters to carry out premeditated murder crimes, inciting the use of violence, thuggery and imposition of control with the intention of intimidating citizens, calling on his supporters to disperse a sit-in outside the presidential Ittihadiya palace by using force, complicity with others to seize 54 protesters at the wall of the presidential palace and torturing them” among other crimes.

Some of the crimes he’s been charged with carry the death penalty too.

The trial of the 529 is the first in a series of mass trials. Egypt still has the death penalty, but in general it’s not used all that often. It seems likely that the sentences will be overturned eventually, but if they aren’t there could be yet another uprising from Islamists and moderates alike.

☛ Read Next: The Sick Chirpse Guide To The Egyptian Revolution