Egypt court hands down long sentences to Morsi supporters

The military-appointed government in Egypt has intensified its crackdown on the supporters of ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, sentencing 220 of his followers for joining what has been called illegal rallies.

Three courts in the city of Alexandria issued sentences of three to seven years each to 220 mostly pro-Morsi protesters in separate cases on Tuesday for their alleged role in instigating violence and holding protests without a permit during rallies last August.

Each defendant was also fined USD 7,000 dollars.

Brotherhood spokesman, Sobhi Saleh, also a former lawmaker, was among those indicted.

This comes after the government passed a law that bans joining unauthorized rallies and allows the police to use excessive force to break up the protests and detain the demonstrators. Violators will be handed lengthy jail terms and hefty fines.

Meanwhile, a number of policemen involved in the killing of demonstrators have been acquitted within the past weeks.

Amnesty International has recently criticized Egyptian authorities for using an “unprecedented scale” of violence against protesters and dealing “a series of damaging blows to human rights.”

According to the UK-based rights group, 1,400 people have been killed in the political violence since Morsi’s ouster, “most of them due to excessive force used by security forces.”

Egypt has been experiencing unrelenting violence since July 3, 2013, when the army ousted Morsi, suspended the constitution, and dissolved the parliament. It also appointed the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court Adly Mahmoud Mansour as the interim president.