CAIRO, Nov 2 (Aswat Masriya) – The North Giza Prosecution referred on Sunday 73 defendants to court over torching a church in the Giza neighbourhood of Kerdasa following the forcible dispersal of two pro-Mohamed Mursi sit-ins in August last year.

The defendants, believed to be supporters of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, are accused of joining an illegal organisation, "disturbing the public peace," possession of weapons, and purposefully torching a church.

The two pro-Mursi camps, the Rabaa al-Adawiya in Cairo and the Nahda in Giza, were set up to demonstrate support for Mursi's administration in late June 2013 and early July, respectively. The camps were maintained following Mursi's military ouster on July 3 and until their forcible dispersal on August 14, 2013.

Official sources say over 600 protesters were killed in the Rabaa dispersal alone, while independent figures put the death toll at around 1000.

A court in Minya has served over 1000 Muslim Brotherhood supporters preliminary death sentences in March and April 2014 over inciting violence following the sit-ins' dispersal. The same court later ratified the death sentences of 220 of the said defendants after consulting the Mufti.

The sentenced defendants included Mohamed Badie, the Muslim Brotherhood's supreme guide.