68 MB supporters handed 10 to 15-year sentences for October 6 violence

Cairo Criminal Court issued lengthy prison sentences to 68 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood on Tuesday, for their purported role in the deaths of 30 individuals during protests staged on October 6 last year in Cairo’s Azbakiya neighborhood.

The court sentenced 63 defendants to 15 years in prison, along with a LE20,000 fine ($US2,800), and the remaining five defendants to 10 years in prison and a LE10,000 ($US 1,400) fine.

Citing judicial sources, Reuters news agency reported that the defendants were found guilty of involvement in the deaths of 30 civilians, as well as the destruction of public property and resisting authorities.

Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and ousted President Mohamed Morsi staged nationwide protests on October 6, 2013, during the 40th anniversary of Egypt’s 1973 war with Israel.

Security forces forcefully cracked down on scores of Islamist protesters on this day, resulting in 57 civilian fatalities and over 390 injuries, according to the Ministry of Health. The Interior Ministry also reported the arrest of another 423 suspects.

The Muslim Brotherhood claimed nearly all the casualties and arrests were members and sympathizers, but the numbers of those affiliated with the banned Islamist group have not been made available by either the Brotherhood or the state.

Human Rights Watch issued a statement in November, criticizing Egyptian authorities for their heavy-handed security tactics during the October 6 crackdown.

“The government should prosecute its agents who injure or kill people while using unjustifiable levels of force,” according to the statement, which added that the “impunity (of security forces) encourages excessive force.”

To date, no member of the security apparatus has stood trial for the use of lethal force in dispersing Islamist protests on October 6 last year. 

Also on Tuesday, Minya Criminal Court sentenced 18 defendants, said to be members of the Muslim Brotherhood, in absentia, to 18 years in prison.

The defendants, according to the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA), were handed five years for “obstructing the implementation of the national constitutional,” and an additional 13 years, plus fines amounting to LE130,000 ($US18,200) each for engaging in violent acts, inciting strife, and belonging to a terrorist group.

The state classified the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization on December 25, 2013.

MENA related the sentencing of the defendants to their involvement in protests and clashes earlier this year in the town of Abu Qurqas, Minya, located about 250 kilometers south of Cairo, adding that all 18 individuals are in hiding and attempting to escape justice.