Boy, 4, mistakenly sentenced to life imprisonment in Egypt

The Egyptian military court made a mistake by sentencing a four-year-old boy to life in prison for murder, military sources confirmed.

According to the BBC, Spokesman Colonel Mohammed Samir said the court should have sentenced a 16-year-old with a similar name instead.

Ahmed Mansour Karni was convicted by the court in absentia for four counts of murder, eight of attempted murder, vandalising property, disturbance of peace and threatening security officers.

Ahmed’s name was added to the list by mistake but the court refused to accept documents proving his age, according to the boy’s lawyers.

“This proves that the judge did not read the case, ‘the Egyptian scales of justice are not reversible’ and ‘there is no justice in Egypt,’ said lawyer Mohammed Abu Hurira.

Egypt’s judicial system has come under repeated criticism since the military overthrew the then President, Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

Since then, the country has been under the tight military leadership of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.