Egypt court slaps 52 regime opponents with prison terms

By Sayyid Fathi

CAIRO

An Egyptian military court has sentenced 52 regime opponents to jail terms ranging from 10 to 25 years -- including a Muslim Brotherhood leader -- for allegedly storming a police station in the Sinai Peninsula in mid-2013.

Defense lawyer Ahmed Saad told Anadolu Agency that Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and three others had been slapped with 10 years in prison each.

The remaining 48 defendants -- all tried in absentia -- were all sentenced to life in prison (at a maximum of 25 years behind bars), he said.

"The court acquitted 20 other people charged in the case due to a lack of evidence," Saad said.

The alleged incident took place in Sinai’s Bir al-Abed police station on Aug. 14 of 2013 -- the same day on which Egyptian security forces violently dispersed two Cairo sit-ins held in support of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, who had been ousted in a bloody military coup six weeks earlier.

"All the defendants denied the charges," Saad said, going on to point out that the sentences were still subject to appeal before Egypt’s High Military Court.

Egypt has been wracked by turmoil since the military ousted Morsi, a leading member of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood group.

Since the coup, the Egyptian authorities have waged a relentless crackdown on Morsi’s supporters and members of his Muslim Brotherhood, killing hundreds and throwing tens of thousands behind bars.

In late 2013, Egypt’s military-backed authorities outlawed the Brotherhood and designated it as a "terrorist group".