A high court in Egypt approved the death sentences of 183 people Saturday, including one of the premier members of the Muslim Brotherhood. 

According to Daily News Egypt, Egypt's Minya Criminal Court upheld death penalty sentences for Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie, in addition to 183 people. Four defendants in the mass sentencing case had their sentences commuted to life in prison. The remaining 496 people on trail were acquitted for their alleged crimes. 

According to defense lawyer Gamal Abdel Hamid, none of the defendants were in the courtroom during the proceedings. Hamid initially said that "over 180" death sentences were upheld before he was given official court documents that disclosed the case's actual details. 

Human rights groups were outraged by the mass trial and subsequent death sentences. International rights group Amnesty International called the proceedings a "new purge of political opposition," as mostly Islamists and Muslim Brotherhood members are being put to death. 

The mass sentences have drawn international condemnation and well as domestic with eighteen domestic human rights groups expressing their denunciation of the court's usage of judicial proceedings to suppress dissent. 

The United States, United Kingdom, United Nations and European Union all denounced the mass trail and sentencing. 

Amnesty International told Daily News Egypt in a statement that Egypt's judiciary has an "increasingly politicized and arbitrary attitude towards justice and the death penalty." 

A member from Amnesty International who was present during the court proceedings Saturday said there was heavy security during the verdicts with "20 security officers masked and holding machine guns."

Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said Egypt's court "handed out death sentences at the drop of a hat," and that the developments are the "latest example of the Egyptian judiciary's bid to crush dissent".

She urged the Egyptian court to dismiss the sentences and order a fair retrial for the defendants without the possibility of receiving the death sentence. 

Badie and the 183 sentenced to death were part of a mass trail of 683 people who had their alleged crimes considered before Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam in April. All 683 individuals were accused of killing two policemen and breaking into the police station in Edwa on August 14, 2013. The incident occurred on one of the most violent days following the ouster of former pro-Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. 

The opinion by the Grand Mufti is only advisory and not legal, meaning the final decision about whether or not to uphold death sentences is taken to the court that initially issued the sentences.  

The approved death sentences will be now be handed to the Court of Cassation for appeal. If the appeal is approved, the case will be brought again to the Minya Criminal Court to be heard by a different judge. 

The judge presiding over the case also upheld death sentences for 37 people who were tried in a mass grouping of 528 people who were convicted in March for attacking a police station last summer and killing an officer. The prosecutor in the case, General Hisham Barakat, ordered appeals for the sentences, including the 17 acquittals. 

Badie and a group of Islamist leaders were given separate preliminary death sentences last Thursday. Thirteen Islamist leaders given the death sentence include senior Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) member Mohamed Al-Beltagy, conservative preacher Safwat Hegazy and Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya member Assem Abdel Maged. The men all faced charges of murder, attempted murder, taking part in an illegal assembly, vandalism and assault. 

In addition to human rights groups, lawyers have also questioned the validity of the mass trial. However, Egyptian officials assert that the sentences are a crucial apart of the judicial process and claim the judiciary is independent and unbiased.