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Egypt military court jails 296 Islamists up to 25 years over violence

Xinhua, December 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

An Egyptian military court sentenced on Wednesday 296 loyalists of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi from one to 25 years over inciting violence and storming a judicial complex in Ismailia province northeast of the capital Cairo, state-run Al-Ahram news website reported.

Mohamed Badie, top chief of Morsi's now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, along with three other Islamists, have been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

One among the total 302 defendants has been sentenced to 25 years in jail, another to one year, two to two years, 15 to three years and 273 to 15 years, while six others have been acquitted of the charges of violence, vandalism, murder and resistance of the authorities.

The case dates back to mid-August 2013 when Morsi's supporters violently stormed Ismailia Court Complex following a deadly security dispersal of two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo and Giza that left about 1,000 people dead. The clashes then between Morsi's loyalists and security forces in Ismailia killed about 10 people.

Morsi was removed by the military in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his currently-blacklisted Brotherhood group.

Most of Morsi's loyalists, as well as the ousted president himself, are currently in custody facing various charges varying from inciting violence to espionage.

In October, the Court of Cassation confirmed a 20-year prison sentence against Morsi over inciting clashes between his supporters and opponents outside the presidential palace in late 2012 that left 10 people dead.

The same court later in two separate sessions in November overturned Morsi's death sentence in a 2011 jailbreak case and his 25-year jail term in the case of espionage in favor of the Palestinian Hamas movement, ordering the ex-president's retrial.

Since Morsi's ouster, the new leadership of former army chief and current President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has been facing a rising wave of anti-government terrorist attacks that left hundreds of police and military men dead, which led Sisi to declare "a war against terrorism." Endit