Death of Egypt’s “Execution Judge” Sparks National Reckoning with Judicial Injustice
The passing of Judge Shaaban El-Shamy, infamous for mass death sentences, ignites symbolic relief among Egyptians who saw him as an arm of authoritarian repression.
Watan-He has passed — the man once viewed not as a judge upholding justice, but as a whip in the hands of power. Counselor Shaaban El-Shamy, known as the “Execution Judge,” is dead, but the legacy of his rulings remains etched in the memory of Egyptians. He departed without erasing from the minds of thousands the images of mass trials, hasty death sentences, and courtrooms that turned into execution chambers.
He was never a judge in the true legal sense — not an independent figure upholding the scales of justice — but a tool of the regime, delivering rulings on command in courtrooms that lacked even the minimum standards of fairness. His death, therefore, was not just passing news —Egypt for millions of Egyptians, it marked a symbolic moment of triumph, described by many as “delayed justice from above.”
Social media platforms were flooded with comments expressing schadenfreude — not joy at death itself, but at the fall of a man seen as a symbol of injustice and a leading face of judicial oppression who weaponized the law for political ends.
🔴رحل “قاضي الإعدامات” شعبان الشامي، فتنفّس الكثير من المصريين الصعداء، معتبرين الشماتة بوفاته حقًا مشروعًا وعزاءً للمنكوبين
وتنفيسًا للمظلومين إلى حين يوم القصاص والحساب الكبيرلكن إن كان موت قاضٍ ضمن المنظومة الفاسدة قد أثار كل هذا الفرح والجدل، فكيف سيكون الحال يوم رحيل رأس… pic.twitter.com/cFjaEuhnTU
— وطن. يغرد خارج السرب (@watanserb_news) May 12, 2025
Yet one question lingers: what about the head of the regime itself? If the death of a single judge could trigger this much response, how monumental will the fall be of the ruler who governed with iron and fire — who crushed freedoms, silenced voices, sold off land, and plunged the country into debt? Will his eventual fall — whether by natural death or political downfall — be remembered as a national celebration?
Many believe that such a moment, whatever its form, will mark a turning point in modern Egyptian history — a reckoning with an entire era of oppression, regression, and brutality.
Physical departure alone is not enough — but the collective memory never forgets. The death of Shaaban El-Shamy will remain engraved in the minds of Egyptians, not as the loss of a judge, but as the fall of a symbol of fake justice.
