Mansoura court sentences 24 MB supporters to life in prison

The Mansoura Criminal Court sentenced 24 people to life in prison on Monday for killing a driver during a protest in December, reported the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA).

The defendants, identified as Muslim Brotherhood supporters, were found guilty of killing the man while protesting against the military-backed interim government appointed after the fall of former President Mohamed Morsi.

One other defendant in the case was sentenced to seven years in prison, while one minor was referred to a juvenile detention facility.

Prosecutors said that the defendants attacked and killed the driver when he brandished a poster of now-President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and attempted to run over some female protesters with his vehicle as they blocked the road.

The official site of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm, posted a YouTube video of the incident that purportedly showed the driver running over demonstrators. The FJP claimed one of the women was killed in the incident, but the death was not confirmed.

The court found the defendants guilty of stabbing the driver to death before setting his car ablaze in retaliation.

The ruling is the latest in a string of harsh sentences handed down to members of the now-banned Islamist organization.

On Saturday, the Minya Criminal Court sentenced more than 180 purported Brotherhood members to death for acts of violence committed in the aftermath of Morsi’s ouster, including the group’s Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie.

Badie and 13 others are also facing the death penalty in a separate case, in which they are accused of killing 10 and injuring 20 in clashes in front of the Istiqama Mosque in Giza. The Giza Criminal Court referred the case to the Grand Mufti on Thursday to approve the death sentences.