LONDON, May 3 (UPI) -- The trial of 26 members of Hezbollah in an extrajudicial court in Egypt "leaves a bitter taste in the mouth," Amnesty International complained.
An emergency court last week sentenced members of an alleged Hezbollah cell to terms ranging from six months to life in prison.
Amnesty International said that the trial in emergency court undermines and bypasses conventional forms of justice.
"These men should be retried by an ordinary court which gives them a chance of getting a fair trial," the group said.
Egypt enacted a state of emergency following the 1981 assassination of President Anwar El Sadat. Amnesty International said the special courts operating under the state of emergency "flout basic guarantees" for a fair trial and permit extraordinary measures to extract confessions.
Cairo said the members of the alleged Hezbollah cell were charged with plotting attacks on tourist sites in the Sinai Peninsula and coordinating with militants in the Gaza Strip.
Several of the accused said they confessed to the crimes under torture, however.
"This trial leaves a bitter taste in the mouth," said Amnesty International.
Cairo denies the torture claims.
The sentence handed down Wednesday comes just weeks after authorities extended the state of emergency by another two years.
