Egypt confirms life sentences for Muslim Brotherhood figures

The movement's leading figure Mohamed Badie was handed a life sentence in 2019

The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's supreme guide, Mohamed Badie, waves from the defendants' cage during the trial of members on February 3, 2014, in the police institute near Cairo's Turah prison. AFP

An Egyptian court on Sunday confirmed life sentences for 10 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, including its leader, over prison breaks and police killings during the 2011 uprising.

The movement's supreme guide Mohamed Badie and his nine co-defendants were given the life sentences, which are 25 years in Egypt, in 2019.

They had been found guilty of conspiring with members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas to enter prisons and free inmates.

The Court of Cassation, the highest court in Egypt's criminal judicial system, on Sunday acquitted eight other, lower-ranking Brotherhood members.

They had been sentenced to 15 years in prison for violence during the uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak.

Mr Mubarak was succeeded by Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammed Morsi.

But the army, led by now-President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, toppled Morsi amid mass protests against his rule.

Mr El Sisi outlawed the Brotherhood in late 2013 and has overseen a wide-ranging crackdown, jailing thousands of its supporters.

The court's rulings on Sunday are final and cannot be appealed against.

Last month, the same court confirmed 12 death sentences against Muslim Brotherhood members, including two senior figures, for various offences including making bombs.