CAIRO, Dec. 26 (Aswat Masriya) The terrorism circuit of the Zagazig Criminal Court sentenced 33 Muslim Brotherhood “elements” to prison terms ranging from three to five years and acquitted two others in four different cases on Saturday.

Among the defendants, two students received a three-year prison term, while 31 received the five-year sentence.

The General Prosecution had referred the defendants to criminal court on charges of belonging to an outlawed group, breaching the protest law, violence and incitement, and inflicting damage on public and private facilities among others.

Another Court in Gharbeya also sentenced Saturday five Muslim Brotherhood supporters to three years in prison and charged a fine of EGP 30,000 in violence-related cases.

In both cases, heavy security measures were in place in the vicinity of the courts for the purpose of securing the movement of the defendants.

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

Since then Brotherhood leaders and hundreds of members and supporters have been referred to trial on various cases and subjected to wide-ranging prison sentences.

Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and other leading Brotherhood figures including Mohamed al-Beltagy and Safwat Hegazy were sentenced on Tuesday to 10 years in prison by a military court in the case dubbed by the media as “Suez events.” Another 56 defendants allegedly supporters of former president Mohamed Mursi were sentenced to high security imprisonment of three to seven years in the same case. The court also handed life imprisonment to 90 defendants in absentia and acquitted 50 others.