In one of the country’s most absurd moves, a court in Egypt sentenced a 4-year-old boy to life in prison as his name was in a list of 115 people “wanted” for murder, disturbance of the peace and damaging state property, local media reported Thursday.
Ahmed Mansour Karni, 4, received the harsh verdict Tuesday after being convicted in absentia of offenses that took place in January 2014, when Karni was less than 2 years old. The court regards him as a fugitive along with the other 114 people.
Egypt's regime continues to outdo itself, this time by sentencing a four year old boy to life in prison https://t.co/F6HitNwjIf
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 17, 2016
The indictment included four counts of murder, eight counts of attempted murder, vandalizing property belonging to the Egyptian Health Administration in his home province southeast of the capital Cairo as well as threatening soldiers and police officers and damaging vehicles belonging to security forces.
OPINION: Defending Democracy Leads an Irish Teen to an Egyptian Prison
The boy’s lawyer Ramadan Farhat said the judge in the case ignored a birth certificate he had submitted to the court proving the child’s age.
"The child Ahmed Mansour Karni's birth certificate was presented after state security forces added his name to the list of accused, but then the case was transferred to the military court and the child was sentenced in absentia in an ensuing court hearing," said the defense attorney.
Local human rights activists, journalists and lawyers took to social media following the news describing the verdict as “a blind decision," and “the latest absurdity in Egypt’s legal system.”
RELATED: Egyptian Authorities Try to Stop Protests on Anniversary of Mubarak Fall
Activist Ahmed Moomen said in a post: "Life sentence for a 4-year-old child, the stupid state.” Also Egyptian lawyer Mohamed Abu Hurayra said the verdict proved the “craziness and oppression in Egypt” adding that justice “is upside down” in Egypt.
“Egypt does not have justice, Egypt does not have logic. The logic (in Egypt) committed suicide long time ago. Egypt is ruled by a group of crazy people,” he added in a post Wednesday.
OPINION: Examining Egypt's Military Dictatorship
Last year, a blind man in Egypt received a 15-year prison sentence for the shooting of a police officer.
WATCH: Global African - Repression in #Egypt & Black Transgender Lives Matter