Thirty jailed in Egypt on charges including terrorism

Daughter of senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat El Shater and her husband among those sentenced

The Muslim Brotherhood's Supreme Guide, Mohammed Badie, inside the defendants' cage during his trial in 2014. AFP

Thirty people were sentenced to between five years and life in jail by an Egyptian court on Sunday, on charges including terrorism.

Judicial officials said they included rights activists and the daughter of Khairat El Shater, a senior leader of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Aisha El Shater received a 10-year prison sentence. Her husband, rights activist Mohammed Abu Horeira, was jailed for 15 years.

The 30 were convicted of joining and funding the Brotherhood, declared a terrorist group in 2013, and of spreading false news.

Seventeen received a life sentence, which in Egypt means 25 years in prison.

Seven were given 15 years and four received 10 years. The Cairo court also gave two defendants five years in prison.

El Shater was one of six women sentenced on Sunday.

The court added a five-year probation period at the end of each sentence.

That normally includes a travel ban and an order to regularly report to a local police station.

The Brotherhood’s designation as a terrorist group came months after the military, then led by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, removed Mohamed Morsi, a president with links to the Brotherhood. His ousting after only one year in office came amid mass protests.

Authorities in Egypt cracked down on the leaders and supporters of the Brotherhood following Mr Morsi’s removal. Thousands were jailed, along with a much smaller number of secular activists involved in the 2011 uprising that forced long-time autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak to step down.

The clampdown has led to criticism of the government’s human rights record. But authorities insist there are no political prisoners in Egypt and everyone in detention is facing a proper legal process.

The government also maintains that the denial of freedoms was necessary because of a rise terrorism after Mr Morsi's ousting.

Over the past year, the government has freed more than 1,000 of its critics from pre-trial detention as preparations are under way for a national dialogue to map out the country’s political future. The dialogue was called for by Mr El Sisi nearly a year ago.

The government earlier lifted a nationwide state of emergency that had been in force for years.