The Zaqaziq Criminal Court on Wednesday has sentenced 37 people to life imprisonment over alleged links to IS militant group, Youm7 reported.
The defendants were also accused of forming a cell to recruit youth to join the extremists in Syria and Iraq and plotting attacks against the police and Copts.
The court also sentenced three others to three years in jail over the said charges. Twenty of the suspects were sentenced in absentia.
Egypt has witnessed a significant rise in militancy since the military-backed ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 following mass protests against his rule. According to the Interior Ministry, militant attacks have killed more than 500 security personnel since then.
