Egyptian court jails 11 for 2013 anti-regime protests

By Jamal Abdel-Muez

CAIRO (AA) - An Egyptian court on Thursday slapped 11 people with 25-year jail terms for protesting against the Egyptian regime in the southern province of Minya in 2013, according to a local legal source.

“Minya’s criminal court sentenced 11 people in absentia to life behind bars [at a maximum of 25 years] for staging rallies against the regime in Minya’s Abu Qaraqus district,” Mohamed Hilmi, a lawyer for the defendants, told Anadolu Agency.

“The court also sentenced a minor to five years behind years on the same charge,” he said, “while another nine were acquitted due to lack of evidence.”

All the sentences remain subject to appeal, the lawyer added.

Egypt has been wracked by turmoil since mid-2013, when the army staged a coup against Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first freely-elected president and a Muslim Brotherhood leader.

Since then, the Egyptian authorities have waged a relentless crackdown on Morsi’s supporters and Brotherhood members, killing hundreds and throwing tens of thousands behind bars, while designating the Brotherhood a “terrorist group”.