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A military court in Egypt's Suez province sentenced on Thursday 15 supporters of the currently-blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood group to 25 years in prison and two others to 10 years over inciting violence in late 2013, a few months after the ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in mid-2013, official MENA news agency reported.
The case dates back to December 2013 when clashes between pro-Morsi protesters and security men at an iconic square in Suez, about 120 km east of the capital Cairo, resulted in the death of two civilians.
The military general prosecution accused the defendants of murdering, joining a terror group, committing acts of violence, horrifying citizens and resisting the authorities and ruining a police vehicle.
Almost the same charges are faced by thousands of defendants who have been detained by the new leadership following the overthrow of Morsi by the military in July 2013, after mass protests against his one-year rule, and the massive crackdown on his loyalists that left about 1,000 killed and thousands more arrested.
In late April, Egyptian courts handed 136 Brotherhood affiliates various sentences varying from one year to 25 years in prison, acquitted 13 and released 68 others over similar charges.
In late 2014, the Brotherhood has been designated by the new military-oriented leadership as "a terrorist organization" after a series of blasts targeted security premises and personnel, although the group denied connection to the terrorist attacks.
Egypt's judiciary is currently holding mass trials for thousands of defendants over charges varying from belonging to the Brotherhood to murdering anti-Brotherhood protesters.
Ousted Islamist President Morsi himself has recently been sentenced to 20 years in prison over ordering the arrest and torture of protesters in 2012.
However, the court acquitted Morsi and 14 other defendants of a more serious charge, namely ordering and inciting the killing of protesters, whose penalty could reach a capital punishment.
The group's top chief Mohamed Badie, who is also in custody, has been sentenced to death more than once and is currently wearing the execution red uniform while detained in prison.
The Brotherhood, which considers Morsi's ouster as "a military coup," always denied connection with terrorist groups and urged anti-government protests.
On April 20, an Egyptian court ordered the execution of 22 of Morsi's loyalists over armed attack of a police station in Giza following Morsi's overthrow.
Earlier in February, the same Giza Criminal Court ordered execution of 183 of Morsi's supporters over killing 14 policemen and mutilating their bodies at the same police station.
Egypt carried out the first execution of one of Morsi's supporters in early March over killing young boys by throwing them off a building roof during a pro-Morsi protest in the seaside province of Alexandria. Enditem
