Beltagy and Hegazy sentenced to 20 years

Tuesday 09-09-2014 11:44 AM
Beltagy and Hegazy sentenced to 20 years

Senior figures of the Muslim Brotherhood Essam El-Erian (L) and Mohamed El-Beltagy (R) speak in a cage in a courthouse on the first day of their trial, in Cairo, November 4, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer

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CAIRO, Sept 9 (Aswat Masriya) – The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced on Tuesday Muslim Brotherhood leading member Mohamed El-Beltagy and Islamist preacher Safwat Hegazy to 10 years in maximum security prison for torturing two policemen.

Beltagy and Hegazy received another 10 year prison sentence on Tuesday for managing an illegal group.

They were charged with managing a group which aims to stall the law and prevent the authorities from carrying out their duties. Other accusations they faced include "thuggery", resisting the authorities, and attempted murder.

Beltagy and Hegazy are accused of kidnapping and torturing two policemen at the pro-Mohamed Mursi Rabaa al-Adawiya sit-in in July 2013.

Other defendants in the case include Mohamed al-Zanaty and Abdel Azeem Ibrahim, two doctors from the Rabaa makeshift hospital. The court sentenced them to 15 years in prison over torture charges.

The Rabaa sit-in was forcibly dispersed on August 14, 2013, causing the death of hundreds of protesters in what was described by Human Rights Watch as "the most serious incident of mass unlawful killings in modern Egyptian history."

Authorities have led a crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters since the military ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July 2013. Mursi himself is in jail, facing a string of charges in more than one court case.

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