CAIRO, July 22 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian court on Saturday has confirmed death sentences against 28 people over the murder of a former public prosecutor in 2015, the Egyptian state TV reported.
Cairo Criminal Court also sentenced 15 to life term, which refers to 25 years in Egypt, eight to 15 years in prison, and 15 others to 10-year-imprisonment for the same case.
The defendants were convicted of premeditated murder, association with a terrorist organization and possessing weapons and explosives.
The same court last month referred the sentence of 31 to Grand Mufti, the country's highest Islamic official who gives the religious judgment of all preliminary death sentences.
Though the Mufti's opinion is non-binding as it is usually considered a formality, he confirmed death sentences against only 28.
Former prosecutor Hisham Barakat was killed in a car bombing in Cairo on June 29, 2015. The bomb targeted his convoy as it was leaving his home in Cairo.
Some 67 defendants were charged in the case, but one of them passed away before the sentence was confirmed.
A little-known group calling itself "the Giza Popular Resistance" claimed responsibility of the attack.
Before the attack, the Islamic State affiliate group in Sinai, known then as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis urged followers to attack judges.
Barakat was appointed as chief prosecutor following the ouster of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
