An Egyptian court has sentenced 68 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to 15 years in prison over protest in Cairo, Egypt. They were accused of taking part in street violence in October 2013 in which more than 50 demonstrators were shot dead during clashes with police. Dozens of policemen also died in the protests. Five other protesters were jailed for ten years.
Police have cracked down harshly on supporters of ousted Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi since his ouster by the military in July 2013, killing hundreds in clashes and arresting thousands. Courts have sentenced hundreds of protesters to death or prison.
In another trial on Tuesday, a Cairo court sentenced nine activists to two years for taking part in an unauthorized gathering at which they called for a ban on demonstrations to be repealed.
Three of them were from the April 6 movement that spearheaded the 2011 revolt that toppled strongman Hosni Mubarak, and the rest were independent activists, an official in the movement, Amar Ali said. Last week, another court sentenced 86 people to up to 15 years in prison on charges relating to pro-Morsi protests. Morsi himself is on trial in several cases and faces a death sentence if convicted of espionage and terrorism related charges.
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