Egypt Sentences an American to Life
Mr. Soltan, 27, an Ohio State University graduate who volunteered as a translator for foreign journalists covering the turmoil that followed Mr. Morsi’s ouster, was among those arrested and imprisoned. Earlier this month, an Egyptian judge sentenced him to life in prison. Mr. Soltan joined the growing ranks of victims of a judicial dragnet that has branded all suspected Islamists as terrorists. (On Tuesday, Mr. Morsi was sentenced to 20 years over the killing of protesters while he was in power in 2012.)
Mr. Soltan’s father, Salah Soltan, was sentenced to death in the same case. Mohamed Soltan was not a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, but he condemned the coup as undemocratic. He has been on hunger strike for more than a year to protest his detention. American officials warned in a letter to his family that the hunger strike “is a significant threat to his life.”