A three-year-old boy from Egypt was sentenced last week to life in prison but officials have clarified that it was a mistaken identity case. The suspect that they were looking for is said to be a 16-year-old.
In a report by CNN, the family of the toddler, identified as Ahmed Mansour Qorany Sharara, was relieved when it was announced that Egyptian officials made a mistake. Allegedly, Sharara was one of the 115 people involved in the killing of three people and sabotaging public and private property back in 2014.
That was during a political demonstration two years ago when people overthrew Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, News 24 reported. Back then, Sharara was only one year old.
Despite the claims of the military that they are after a 16-year-old, the father of the toddler, Mansour Qorany Sharara, who was also arrested for not wanting to surrender his child, claimed that the officials are actually looking for the child's 51-year-old uncle who has the same name as the kid.
The guilty verdict on the toddler has raised concerns from human rights activists, Fox 40 reported. In a TV appearance, the boy's father pleaded for help and TV presenter Wael Elebrashy asked the viewers how the public would "trust justice if they see this." The father of the child began weeping as he carried the sleeping child in his arms during the interviews.
Accordingly, the authorities first came to arrest the boy early 2014 but when they found out he was a toddler, the father was taken into custody instead. He spent four months behind bars and has been on the run since being released as he wanted to evade the authorities who wants to continue to sentence the toddler.
Officials have called the family to say that they are now safe from the charges as they found out that the child had nothing to do with the killings. However, there are still concerns being raised regarding the system of Egypt. Another issue is mass sentencing, which has been common in Egypt. This has been criticized by human rights groups and the United Nations.
