Hefty sentences handed to Brothers in Kafr al-Sheikh, Minya

Twelve Muslim Brotherhood leaders have been handed 17 years in prison and another defendant 20 years by the Kafr al-Sheikh Misdemeanors Court for intending to disturb public order and committing acts of violence against the police, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported Sunday.

The privately-owned newspaper said the defendants — eight of whom were tried in absentia — are accused of “propagating information aimed at disturbing public order, writing offensive statements against the Armed Forces on the walls in Desouk, possession of flyers and committing acts of violence against police and citizens of Desouk.”

Desouk is a city in the northern Delta governorate.

Meanwhile, the Minya Criminal Court sentenced 11 Brotherhood members to up to 88 years in prison, the paper reported.

The defendants are accused of congregating, blocking roads and possessing weapons in the middle Egyptian governorate. Six of them were also tried in absentia. 

One of the defendants was sentenced to 88 years, another to 63, and two others to 33 years. The shortest sentence was five years, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Late last month, the Minya Criminal Court in its second session sentenced 529 Brotherhood supporters to death for violence following the dispersal of the Rabea al-Adaweya and Nahda sit-ins last August 14.

Amnesty International issued a statement describing the death sentences as a "grotesque example of the shortcomings and the selective nature of Egypt's justice system.”

The same court is scheduled to rule on Monday in the case of 1,229 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, including the group’s Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, accused of attacking police officers in Minya following the dispersal of the Rabea sit-in.