Egyptian court jails 102 Mursi suppporters for 10 years

CAIRO: An Egyptian criminal court has sentenced 102 defendants it describes as Muslim Brotherhood supporters to 10 years in prison each on charges of violent rioting in a Cairo neighborhood and possession of weapons.
Egypt’s state news agency said the Saturday ruling puts the defendants under police surveillance for a period of five years after the end of their prison sentences. Two other defendants were jailed for seven years in the case.
The ruling is linked to demonstrations staged to protest the overthrow of Islamist President Muhammad Mursi by the military in July. Mursi’s ouster followed days of mass demonstrations demanding his resignation.
The prosecutors charged the defendants with gathering illegally with intent to inflict material and moral harm to others and public property, which led to one death.
Last Monday, a court sentenced to death some 680 defendants in a mass trial, sparking an international outcry.
Among those sentenced to death is the Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader Mohammed Badie who also faces several other separate trials.
On Wednesday, Badie along with an ultraconservative preacher Safwat Hegazy and 19 others were sentenced to one year in prison for “insulting the court” in a separate case either by turning their back to the room or speaking in inappropriate manner.
The 21 were sentenced while standing trial with Mursi and 130 others, the majority of whom are being tried in absentia on charges of orchestrating prison breaks during the 2011 uprising which led to the ouster of Mursi’s predecessor, Hosni Mubarak.
Hegazy was a key speaker at the main pro-Mursi sit-in dispersed by security forces last August. He had told protesters to hold their ground and promised to reverse the military’s overthrow of Mursi.
Thousands of members of the now-illegal Brotherhood and supporters of the ousted president are in prison awaiting trial, along with liberal democracy activists who have spoken out against the military-backed government.
Egypt’s Justice Minister has rebuffed international criticism of the mass trial, saying the judiciary is not a tool of executive authority and that rulings can be overturned upon appeal.