Egypt court sentences 30 Islamists to life imprisonment News
Egypt court sentences 30 Islamists to life imprisonment

[JURIST] An Egyptian court sentenced 30 members of the Muslim Brotherhood [BBC backgrounder] on Monday to life imprisonment on charges of violent behavior. The largest case concerned 17 out of the 30 defendants and included charges stemming from attempts made on the lives of protestors in Mansoura. Of the 17, 15 were charged in absentia, while one was sentenced to five years in prison. The remaining defendants took part in various actions, and charges were brought for inciting violence, setting a police vehicle on fire and staging protests without permission. Sentences ranged from a death sentence for a murder and attempted murder of two businessmen in Mansoura, to 10 years imprisonment for lesser charges.

On Saturday an Egyptian court sentenced [JURIST report] ex-president Mohammed Morsi [BBC profile] and more than 100 others to death for their involvement in a mass prison break in 2011. Many of Morsi’s supporters belong to the Muslim Brotherhood and have become targets of current President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi [BBC profile]. On Sunday, Egyptian authorities executed [JURIST report] six men convicted of killing two Egyptian soldiers. Last week, Morsi supporters were sentenced [JURIST report] to life in prison for illegal protests and acts of violence which were destructive to the Al-Marg district of Cairo, but were said to be in protest of death sentences handed down for members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Members of the Brotherhood were also sentenced to death [JURIST report] early this year on charges of murder and possession of firearms stemming from clashes that took place days before Morsi’s ouster.