Over 100 sentenced life imprisonment for burning church in Egypt

CAIRO: An Egyptian court today handed down sentences varying from life to 10 years in prison for 119 Muslim Brotherhood members for committing violent acts and burning a church in 2013.

As many as 31 members of the banned outfit were handed down the life imprisonment which in Egypt is for 25 years while 57 others got 15 years in prison. Another 31 defendants got 10 years in prison.

A total of 68 defendants were present during the trial while the others were sentenced in absentia.

The defendants were accused of burning a church in Sohag, possessing weapons, killing 15 persons, attempt to kill three others in addition to other charges.

The violence came after Brotherhood sit-ins in Rabaa and Nahda were dispersed by security forces.

Since Islamist ex-president Mohamed Morsi's ouster, the Egyptian government has been cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters.

Morsi himself, along with the Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide Mohamed Badie and 100 other leaders, was sentenced in June to death for escaping from prison in 2011.

Badie - the 72-year-old supreme guide of the banned group - and Morsi were also sentenced to life in prison in an espionage case.