Egypt court jails 19 students 5 years over pro-Brotherhood vandalism

CAIRO, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian court sentenced on Sunday 19 students to five years in prison over committing acts of vandalism in support of the currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, state-run MENA news agency reported.

The report said the 19 students of the Isalmic-oriented Al-Azhar University belong to the banned group of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and they have been convicted of storming one of Al-Azhar buildings, assaulting its employees and setting fire on private cars during pro-Morsi violent protests.

Giza Criminal Court also sentenced a minor to three years in prison in the same case.

The verdicts are final, as they conclude the convicts' retrial after their appeal was accepted in late 2015.

Morsi was ousted by the military in July 2013, in response to mass protests, and his Brotherhood group was banned as a terrorist organization.

A later massive security crackdown on Morsi's supporters left hundreds dead and thousands arrested.

On Jan. 9, the same court handed 268 defendants up to 25-year jail terms over a violent pro-Morsi sit-in following his removal.

Since Morsi's ouster, Egypt has been suffering terrorist activities that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers as well as civilians, with most of them claimed by a Sinai-based terrorist group affiliated with the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian security forces have killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested thousands of suspects during the country's anti-terror war declared by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi's ouster. Enditem