Muslim Brotherhood chief sentenced to life in jail by Egyptian court

Cairo: An Egyptian court on Monday sentenced the Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader Mohammed Badie to life in prison for murder and violence after he and five other senior members of the Islamist group appealed against death sentences handed to them.

The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced another 15 defendants to five years in jail and cleared a further 21 defendants of all charges, including Justice and Freedom Party official Mourad Ali, Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad Al-Hadad and journalists.

The defendants were sentenced to death in April 2014 after they were found guilty of giving orders to foment nationwide disorder in August 2013 after the Egyptian military's ouster of elected Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi.

Egyptian dailiy Al-Ahram Online quoted Badie's lawyer Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud, as saying he does not face any other death sentences as all have been successfully appealed. 

A life sentence in Egypt means 25 years in jail.

The retrial verdicts can still be appealed, Al-Ahram reported.