CAIRO, May 29 (Aswat Masriya) - An Egyptian military court ordered on Sunday the execution of eight alleged Muslim Brotherhood supporters who are convicted of establishing a group against the law and involvement in the assassination of a number of security personnel.

The court also sentenced 12 to life in prison and six others to 15 years. Only two were acquitted in this case.

According to the military judiciary code, the verdict can be challenged before the military appeals court.

In 2014, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree expanding the jurisdiction of military judiciary to try civilians accused of attacking "vital" state facilities or attack military personnel on duty. 

The decree was condemned by local and international rights groups. 

“This law represents another nail in the coffin of justice in Egypt,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement in November 2014. 

The military prosecution accused the defendants of establishing a group against the law with the aim of preventing state institutions from carrying out their work, participating in the assassination of security personnel, receiving orders from the Muslim Brotherhood group to spread chaos and receiving military exercises abroad.

Authorities have led a crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters since the ouster of former president Mohamed Mursi in July 2013, after mass protests against his rule. Mursi himself is in jail, facing a string of charges in more than one court case. 

Egypt listed the Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation in December 2013 and insists it is behind the wave of militancy which has targeted security personnel since Mursi’s ouster. 

The Brotherhood continuously denies the accusations.