CAIRO, Sept 13 (Aswat Masriya) – A Cairo misdemeanour court sentenced on Saturday nine al-Azhar University students to five years in prison over violent clashes which took place on campus in May.

The students were also ordered to pay a fine of 50 thousand Egyptian pounds each. The court ruled they would be put under observation for five more years following their release from prison.

The defendants are accused of rioting, assembly, "thuggery", resisting the authorities, vandalising public properties and joining an armed group which aims to stir public peace and security.

Students were arrested following a protest outside the Azhar University dorms in Cairo's Nasr City on May 14. 

The pro-Mohamed Mursi "Students against the coup" movement has been organising protests against the former Islamist president's military ouster throughout the past academic year. Protests have often devolved into clashes with security forces.

The past academic year is the deadliest, with at least 16 students killed amid protests on campus, according to the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression's Student Observatory.