Egypt court sentences 73 Brotherhood members to 15 years in jail

CAIRO - An Egyptian court on Thursday sentenced 73 members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to 15 years in prison for assaulting a police station a year ago, state- run Nile TV reported.

They were convicted of violence, sabotage, attempted murder, robbery of security headquarters equipment, and weapons possessions, in the Delta province of Kafr-el-Sheikh following the ouster of Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi a year ago.

Nine other Morsi supporters received eight-year sentences on the same charges.

In a separate case, a criminal court handed down a life sentence to a prominent Brotherhood figure, Abdullah Barakat, dean of the Islamic Faculty College, and fined him 20,000 Egyptian pounds (2,796 U.S. dollars) over similar charges, in addition to blocking a main road north of Cairo. Four other Islamists were sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Since the military-led removal of Morsi in July 2013, a massive security crackdown has been launched on Morsi supporters, leaving more than 1,000 killed and thousands others arrested.

All top leaders of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood have received life or sentences, both appealable, over inciting violence and murder, some in abstentia.

Morsi himself faces charges such as his role in a 2011 jailbreak, espionage, ordering the killing of protesters, insulting the judiciary and leaking classified documents to Qatar.