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111 fugitive Islamists in Egypt sentenced 25-year jail terms over riots

Xinhua, March 28, 2017 Adjust font size:

A military court in Upper Egypt sentenced on Tuesday 111 fugitive loyalists of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group to 25 years in jail over committing acts of violence and riot following the overthrow of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in mid-2013, official MENA agency reported.

The case involves 132 defendants from Upper Egypt's Minya province whom the prosecution charged with "belonging to the Brotherhood group, plotting together to vandalize public and private properties, provoking violence, inciting the people and holding protests against the army and the police."

Two of the other 21 defendants, including one suffering cancer, were acquitted while the other 19 got from five to 15 years prison terms, one of the lawyers told Xinhua in Minya, noting that the verdicts are initial and appealable.

The defendants were also accused of storming Beni Mazar court building, the traffic department building, a church and several private properties of Egyptian Copts in Minya.

The military court session was held at Assiut province southern Egypt instead of Minya for security reasons.

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

Anti-government terrorist activities targeting security men have prevailed in the country since then, leaving hundreds of security personnel killed, with most of the attacks claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group.

Most Brotherhood leaders, including Morsi and the group's top chief Mohamed Badie, are currently in custody and many of them received appealable death sentences and life imprisonments over various charges from inciting violence and murder to espionage and jailbreak.

Morsi himself is currently serving a recently-confirmed 20-year prison sentence over inciting clashes between his supporters and opponents outside a presidential palace in Cairo late 2012 that left 10 people dead. Endit