Egypt court sentences two Mohamed Morsi supporters to death

CAIRO: An Egyptian court has sentenced two supporters of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi to death after they were found guilty in several cases relating to violence that erupted after his removal last year.

The upper Egyptian Minya court also handed down sentences of one year to life term to 43 others, including a minor yesterday while acquitting 28 Muslim Brotherhood supporters, state-news agency MENA reported.

The same court previously sentenced 529 to death, later upholding the penalty for 37 defendants, and sentenced 492 others to life in prison. One month later, it handed down death penalty to 683 defendants, later confirming 183 of them, Al Ahram online reported.

Since Morsi's ouster last year, the Egyptian government had been cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters. Many Brotherhood supporters including party's top brass are facing trials.

Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected President who was ousted by the army in July 2013 amid nationwide protests against his year-long rule, is currently in prison over charges of killing peaceful protesters, espionage, escaping from prison during the January 25 Revolution in 2011, and insulting the jurisdiction.

Recently, Morsi was also accused of smuggling top secret documents to Qatar via Al-Jazeera TV Channel during his rule.

So far, he has not been sentenced in any case.