A court in Upper Egypt's Minya sentenced to death eight individuals and handed 106 others varying prison terms on Tuesday, for accusations of involvement in violence dating back to 2013.
The defendants faced multiple charges, including "murder and attempted murder", as well as show of force and "joining a terrorist group." In total 119 defendants were brought to court in this trial.
The eight, who are believed to be affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, were being tried in absentia. Egyptian law provides a retrial for a person sentenced in absentia once he or she is in custody.
The death sentences come after the grand mufti's approval. The court had referred their files to the mufti last month.
Consulting Egypt's grand mufti is a procedural step adopted in all cases which involve death sentences. His opinion is not binding, yet it is customary for the court to adopt them.
The court handed 77 life in prison and prison terms ranging from 10 to 15 years for 29 others. Five people were acquitted.
All defendants were ordered to be placed on security monitoring for three years.
They were all brought to trial for violence in Minya in August 2013. The violence followed the dispersals of two encampments organised in late June 2013 to show solidarity with then-president Mohamed Mursi.
They were dispersed on August 14, 2013, leaving hundreds of protesters dead. This was described by Human Rights Watch as "the most serious incident of mass unlawful killings in modern Egyptian history."
