Life sentence upheld for Egyptian Brotherhood leaders

ISTANBUL (AA) - An Egyptian appeals court on Thursday upheld a 25-year life sentence for Mohammed Badie, the leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

The court in the capital Cairo rejected appeals by Badie and other brotherhood leaders in the case known as "the incidents of [the Muslim Brotherhood] Guidance office," reported Egyptian state media.

It also upheld life terms for Badie's deputy Khairat el-Shater and four other Muslim Brotherhood leaders.

The case centers around incidents on June 30, 2013 near the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters, east of Cairo, where bloody clashes erupted, leaving nine dead and 91 wounded.

Muslim Brotherhood leaders have faced a raft of charges since the military coup that ousted Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first-ever democratically elected president, who died last in year in state custody.

Many human rights groups and independent observers have decried the charges as politically motivated.


*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara