Egypt Court Sentences 43 Protesters to Life in Prison

A Cairo criminal court sentenced, on Tuesday, 43 anti-government protesters to life in prison over clashes with authorities in 2011.

The 43 protesters had been charged with rioting, vandalism and attacking security forces during clashes with police and the army in Cairo in December 2011.

The defendants are also accused of setting fire to the Scientific Institute near the cabinet headquarters in downtown Cairo.

Nine others were sentenced to 10 years in prison and one to five years, while 92 were acquitted.

“The court issued verdicts concerning 145 out of 269 defendants who were granted a retrial after being sentenced to prison in absentia in 2015,” reported by Ahram Online.

The case is called “cabinet clashes” in reference to the cabinet building where the clashes occurred, in which at least 17 people were killed and almost 2,000 were wounded.

A life sentence in Egypt is 25 years.