After Mohammed Zahabi, 64, a former Egyptian minister of religion, denounced the extremist religious group Flight from Sin, he was kidnapped near the pyramids of Giza in the summer of 1977 and murdered.
The extremist sect, whose members wore loose linen robes, had advocated the overthrow of Egypts secular government and the creation of an Islamic state.
Five perpetrators of the crime, Shukri Mustapha (the leader), Maher Bakri, Anwar Sakr, Ahmed Abdul-Alim and Mustapha Ghazi, were tried by a military court and hanged in Cairo on Sunday, March 19th, 1978. Another 49 men were given long-term prison sentences.