Mansoura Criminal Court sentences 54 MB members to life in prison

The Mansoura Criminal Court handed down 54 life sentences to alleged Muslim Brotherhood members Wednesday in a mass trial over charges of joining a terrorist group, rioting and committing acts of violence. In total, 155 defendants were put on trial in the case and received varying sentences, but 79 of those were tried in absentia. Twenty-one of the defendants were students, and three were women. Two of the female defendants were sentenced to three years in prison, and the third was sentenced to six years for participating in a MB march, AlHayah reported. The three girls’ relatives protested outside the court room chanting anti-army, anti-police and anti-judiciary slogans, Sada ElBalad reported Wednesday. Mass trials for alleged MB members have become common in Egypt. The Minya Criminal Court on March 24 sentenced 529 people to death, and acquitted 17 others over charges of attacking a police station and killing its deputy chief. The government designated the MB a terrorist group on Dec. 25, 2013, a day after 15 people were killed and 134 injured in a bombing at the Dakahlia Security Directorate.