CAIRO, July 7 (Reuters) - A group of leading Egyptian activists on trial for inciting violence during protests against former President Mohamed Mursi were acquitted on Sunday by a court in Cairo, state news agency MENA reported, days after Mursi was ousted by the armed forces.

The eleven defendants - including Alaa Abdel Fattah, Ahmed Douma, and Nawara Negm - were outspoken critics of Mursi and his Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, and activists said their case was part of a wider crackdown on dissent.

Mursi was toppled by the military on Wednesday, a year after he became Egypt's first freely elected president, following mass protests against him amid economic stagnation and fears of a power grab by the Muslim Brotherhood.