An Egyptian court has sentenced 12 supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi to 17 years in prison for taking part in a student-led demonstration against the military-installed government.
The protesters were convicted of attacking the headquarters of al-Azhar University during the protest in October, AFP reported.
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said that all those sentenced were students at al-Azhar University.
Morsi’s supporters have been holding regular demonstrations to condemn the military-backed government and its harsh crackdown on the leaders and members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
In a televised speech late on July 3 night, Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced that Morsi, a former leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, was no longer in office and declared that the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mahmoud Mansour, had been appointed as the new interim president of Egypt. The army also suspended the constitution.
Army officials said Morsi, who took office in June 2012, was being held “preventively” by the military.
Morsi appeared in court on November 4 on charges of inciting the killing of protesters outside the presidential palace in 2012.
At the trial, Morsi is reported to have said that he is the legitimate president of Egypt, calling on the court “to end this farce.”
"I am Dr. Mohamed Morsi, the president of the republic... This court is illegal," Morsi told the opening hearing of his trial, adding, "This was a military coup. The leaders of the coup should be tried. A coup is treason and a crime."
The trial was adjourned to January 8, and the ousted president, who has been detained at a secret location since his removal, was transferred to a prison in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
Egypt has been experiencing unrelenting violence since July 3. The government of Mansour has launched a bloody crackdown on Morsi supporters and arrested more than 2,000 Brotherhood members, including the party’s leader, Mohamed Badie, who was detained on August 20.
About 1,000 people were killed in a week of violence between Morsi supporters and security forces after police dispersed their protest camps in a deadly operation on August 14.
The massacre sparked international condemnation and prompted world bodies to call for an independent investigation into the violence.
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