TEMPO.CO, Cairo - A juvenile court in Alexandria on Wednesday, November 26, 2014, sentenced 78 minors to jail on charges of supporting the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
MENA news agency reported that Mosaad al-Refaie, head of the court, said that the minors, aged 13 to 17, were guilty of helping the banned group, damaging public property and scaring people during protests in Alexandria.
The children denied the charges. However, Rafaie still sentenced them to two to five years in prison.
During the trial, lawyers and families of the children were not allowed to enter the courtroom. The families gathered outside the court, chanting against the military and the police.
Ahmed al-Hamrawy, lawyer of the children, said he would appeal to lighten their sentences.
The Egyptian government has passed an anti-terrorism draft that will government full authority to the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to indict groups that are considered a threat to the military regime.
Protests against the government by Muslim Brotherhood supporters have been ongoing since the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi on July last year. The Muslim Brotherhood was included the list of terrorist organizations last December. At least 1,400 people have been killed, 15,000 jailed and 528 sentenced to death since the fall of Morsi.
L ASWAT MASRIYA | GLOBAL POST | AL-JAZEERA | SITA PLANASARI AQUADINI
