CAIRO, Jun 13 (Aswat Masriya) - An Egyptian court sentenced 23 people to 14 years of maximum security prison and acquitted eight on Saturday over the killings of four followers of Shia Islam in 2013.

Of the 23 sentenced to prison, nine are in custody, while the remaining 14 were sentenced in absentia.

In June 2013, Shiite leading figure Hassan Shehata was killed alongside three other Shiites when a crowd of people attacked a religious gathering in a Giza village.

In August 2014,  Egypt's top prosecutor referred 31 suspects to criminal court over the killing of the four Shiites.

The 31 defendants were accused of murder, attempted murder, torching, illegal assembly, vandalism and possession of unlicensed weapons.