Egypt court sentences 8 Morsi supporters to death

CAIRO

An Egyptian court on Tuesday confirmed the death sentences against eight supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi for violence charges, a judicial source said.

The defendants – who were tried in absentia – were charged with assaulting police, judicial and state facilities in the Upper Egyptian province of Minya and joining the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, which authorities designated as a "terrorist" group.

The defendants were referred last month to the grand mufti, Egypt's top religious authority, to consider the death sentences against them.

The court also slapped 77 defendants with life sentences and 29 others with jail terms ranging between 10 and 15 years each, the judicial source said.

Five defendants, meanwhile, were acquitted of the charges.

Tuesday's verdicts are still subject to appeal.

Since mid-2013, when Mohamed Morsi – Egypt’s first freely elected president and a Brotherhood leader – was ousted in a military coup, Egyptian authorities have unleashed a massive crackdown on his supporters, killing hundreds and detaining thousands on violence charges.

Morsi's supporters, meanwhile, insist that the charges against them are "politically-driven".