28 fugitive MB members given life sentences in Fayoum

Fayoum Criminal Court sentenced 28 members of the ousted Muslim Brotherhood group to life on Monday, imprisoning 15 others for three years, the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported.

The defendants stand accused of violence, harming national unity and social stability, as well as breaking the Protest Law, joining a terrorist organization, attacking citizens, vandalizing public and private properties and blocking roads, among other charges.

The detention of Brotherhood members in Fayoum, which used to be a political stronghold of the Islamist organization, dates back to last March, during a protest organized by the Brotherhood against the military-backed government.

Among the defendants are the head of the Brotherhood’s political arm — the Freedom and Justice Party — Ahmed Abdel Rahman Amin in Fayoum, board member Ahmed Ibrahim Bayoumi, and head of the party’s administrative office Mostafa Ateya, among other party leaders.

The sentence comes following similar court rulings against members of the now-banned organization. Minya Criminal Court issued two death sentences against a thousand supporters of the Brotherhood, which caused an uproar nationally and internationally.

A report by Wiki Thawra, an independent online portal that aims to document the events of the January 25 revolution since 2011, issued last week, revealed that 41,163 people have been detained or prosecuted since the removal of former President Mohamed Morsi in July.

According to the report, 53 have died in custody since then. Several individual cases of abuse and torture inside prisons have surfaced. Prisoners complain of overcrowded cells, deprivation of their basic rights — such as sports and family visits, as well as physical assaults.