A Qena military court sentenced 63 Muslim Brotherhood supporters in absentia to 15 years in prison on Wednesday, acquitting 26 other defendants of charges of attempting to storm Qena Security Directorate and Qena Diocese, during protests following the dispersal of Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda sit-ins in 2013.
The most prominent acquitted defendants are the former Muslim Brotherhood MPs Hesham al-Qady and Mahmoud Youssef.
The incident dates back to August 2013, when the Security Directorate of Qena received a notice that Muslim Brotherhood supporters organized marches in various areas in the city, to protest against the dispersal of Rabaa al-Adaweya and al-Nahda sit-ins. The protesters attempted to storm Qena Security Directorate and Qena Diocese, attacking it with Molotov cocktails. Twenty-six of them were arrested during the incident, and 63 other defendants were identified later and referred to a military tribunal.
Security measures were intensified outside the military court in Qena, after the verdict was issued.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
