CAIRO, Jan 24 (Aswat Masriya) – Egypt's Court of Cassation ordered on Saturday the retrial of 135 defendants tried for violence in Minya which followed the deadly dispersal of two pro-Mohamed Mursi camps in August 2013.

The Minya criminal court had ratified in April 2014 the death sentences of 37 defendants accused of attacking a police station and killing an officer in Minya. All 37 defendants are among those who will be retried, as per Saturday's ruling.

The Court of Cassation also upheld the acquittal of 17 defendants tried in the case. The defendants were initially acquitted in March 2014.

The Minya Criminal Court served 528 Muslim Brotherhood supporters preliminary death sentences in March 2014.

The mass death sentences have been widely condemned by a number of states, international bodies, and civil society organisations.

The same court ratified the death sentences of 37 defendants and reduced the sentences of the remaining 491 to life in prison. Over 390 of the defendants were sentenced last April in absentia; they did not challenge their sentences and therefore were not included in Saturday's ruling.

The Muslim Brotherhood has come under attack since the military ouster of its leader Mursi from the presidency in July 2013 following mass protests against his rule. The military-installed regime has since then rounded up thousands of Brotherhood members and supporters and killed hundreds of protesters in confrontations with security forces.

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