28 Morsi supporters get life sentences in Egypt

A court in Egypt Monday sentenced 28 supporters of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi to life in prison in absentia after they were found guilty of violence in Fayyoum province, the media reported.

Egyptian prosecutors have accused the Morsi supporters of "harming the national unity, social peace, using violence, protesting without a police permit, and attacking public and private property," Xinhua reported citing state news agency MENA.

They were also charged with belonging to Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood which has been banned by Egypt as a terrorist group.

The Monday hearing was set up for 43 Morsi supporters. But 15 others who presented themselves before the court were jailed for three years over the same charges.

Since the ouster of Morsi in July last year hundreds of his supporters have been arrested and given jail terms or death sentences.

In March, a court in the southern city of Minya sentenced to death 529 supporters of the ousted president.

In April, the same court handed the death penalty to 683 Morsi backers in another mass trial that caused a huge international outrage.