An Egyptian military court mistakenly sentenced a 3-year-old to life in prison for the toddler’s alleged role in the killing of three people more than two years ago.
According to the New York Times, not only was Ahmed Mansour Qurani Sharara accused of killing three people, the child was alleged to have taken part in protests and damaging government buildings, when he was about 16 months old.
The verdict was handed down last week during a trial that saw the child and 115 others found guilty in the killings and taking part in the political protests in January 2014, CNN reported.
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The news station reported that when authorities came to arrest Sharara, they soon realized the accused was a toddler, thus arresting his father instead.
However, citing an official Facebook page run by the Egyptian military, The Times reported it was a case of mistaken identity, and a 16-year-old with the same name was the one meant to be on trial for the alleged crimes.
The Times also reported that the military may still have been mistaken by the identity of the accused. Police spokesman, Abu Bakr Abdel-Karim, reportedly said the suspect was actually the toddler’s 51-year-old uncle who has a similar name.
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“I don’t know why there is a contradiction between the statements,” the newspaper cited Abdel-Karim as saying. “I’m not the one responsible for communication with the army.”
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