Cairo: An Egyptian court sentenced 68 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to jail terms on Tuesday, judicial sources said, in a case related to deadly violence a year ago after the army’s overthrow of Islamist President Mohammad Mursi.
All were found guilty of killing 30 people and intending to kill others in Cairo on October 6, 2013 in a case known as the “Asbakyah riots,” which took place near Ramsis square in Cairo. More than 50 people died in clashes across the country between Mursi opponents and supporters.
Judge Mohammad Ali Al Faqi gave 63 of the defendants 15 years in jail and fined them 20,000 Egyptian pounds (Dh10,300), and five others 10 years and a fine of 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,400).
International and Egyptian rights groups have expressed alarm over an increasingly broad crackdown on dissent by authorities since then-army chief Abdul Fattah Al Sissi seized power in July 2013.
Thousands of Brotherhood supporters are in jail and the state crackdown over the past year has expanded to include liberal and secular activists who played a leading role in the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
Mursi himself faces charges of jailbreak, espionage, ordering the killing of protesters, insulting the judiciary and leaking classified documents to Qatar.
