Egypt court sentences 15 defendants to 10-year jail over inciting violence

CAIRO, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian court sentenced on Thursday 15 defendants to 10 years in prison over inciting riots and protests and assaulting security forces in 2013 in the southern province of Minya.

The 15 convicts are supporters of the currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, who was ousted by the army in early July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule.

The prosecution also charged them with joining a banned group and calling for protests in response to Morsi's ouster and the later security crackdown on his loyalists.

One of the 15 is in custody while the rest have been sentenced in absentia.

Morsi's angry supporters attacked many security men and churches of the Coptic minority in several provinces nationwide, particularly in Upper Egypt, following the deadly security dispersal of two major pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo and Giza in mid-August 2013 that left hundreds dead and thousands arrested.

Last week, 26 defendants were similarly sentenced up to 10 years in prison over committing violence and sabotage and storming a police station in January 2014.

Most Brotherhood leaders, members and supporters, including Morsi himself and the group's top chief Mohamed Badie, are currently detained.

Many of them have been handed appealable death sentences and lengthy jail terms over charges varying from inciting violence and murder to espionage and jailbreak. Enditem