Nearly 100 Morsi supporters jailed in Egypt

Cairo, Sep 25: Nearly 100 Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Egypt were today handed down stiff jail terms for upto 25 years after being found guilty of violence during protests supporting ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.

A court sentenced 73 Muslim Brotherhood supporters in absentia to 15 years in prison for inciting violence in Kafr el-Sheikh police station last year.

Nine other defendants were sentenced to 10 years in prison, while 4 others were sentenced to a year in prison.

The defendants were found guilty of illegal assembly, attempted murder, vandalism, stealing a gun from a policeman and possessing illegal arms in the Delta province of Kafr-el-Sheikh following the ouster of Morsi in 2013.

In a separate case, a criminal court sentenced four Islamists to 10 years in prison and six others to seven years and a year in prison for a minor, for inciting violence in Shubra el-Kheyma police station last year.

Also, two Muslim Brotherhood leaders, Hossam Marghani and Abdullah Barakat, were sentenced to 25 years in prison and were fined 20,000 Egyptian pounds for inciting violence in Qalioub city which led to the death of two persons.

Both defendants were sentenced to death in absentia in the same case earlier, but were present today and got a reduced sentence. In July, a court had sentenced Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and 36 others to life in prison, and confirmed death sentences for 10 others.

Badie, convicted of involvement in deadly protests, had already received death sentences in two other cases in a crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood supporters after Morsi was overthrown by the army in a coup last year.

Morsi himself is currently in prison over charges of killing peaceful protesters, espionage, escaping from prison during the Egyptian Revolution in 2011, and insulting the judiciary.

He is also charged with spying and handing sensitive documents concerning national security to Qatari intelligence through the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera news channel.

So far Morsi has not been sentenced in any case but faces a possible death penalty if the charges are proved.

PTI