Egypt court sentences 30 Islamists to life imprisonment

Cairo: Thirty members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood were on Monday sentenced to life imprisonment by an Egyptian court for their involvement in separate cases of violence.

Seventeen out of the 30 defendants were convicted for attempting to kill protesters in Mansoura city, about 120 km northeast of Cairo. Fifteen of them were sentenced in absentia. Besides, one defendant was given five years in prison in the same case.

Thirteen others were handed down life in prison for inciting violence, setting a police vehicle on fire and staging protests without permission. One defendant was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the same case.

In a separate case, one Muslim Brotherhood member was given death sentence while another got life imprisonment for killing a businessman and attempting to kill another one in Mansura.

Thousands of pro-Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood leaders and members have been rounded up and put on trial since the army deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in 2013 following massive street protests against his rule.