Muslim Brotherhood leader given life sentence for part in Giza violence

An Egyptian court handed life sentences to the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohammed Badie and seven others on Saturday.

The same trial saw six other defendants sentenced in absentia to death.

They include Asim Abdel Majid who heads al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya, considered an armed wing of the Muslim Brotherhood until it renounced violence following the June 2013 ouster of former President Mohammed Morsi.

The 14 defendants had originally all been sentenced to death on 19 June 2014, but, in an unusual move, the case was sent to Egypt's Grand Mufti for review.

The men had been tried for a number of charges, including inciting violence, rioting and belonging to a terrorist organisation.

Egypt declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation on 25 December 2014.

The defendants were charged for their part in deadly clashes that broke out near the al-Istiqama Mosque in Giza after Morsi’s ouster.

Ten people were killed in the clashes and 20 injured when the defendants allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at a police station in Giza.

Well over 1,200 opposition Islamists, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya, have been sentenced to death so far this year.