529 Morsi supporters sentenced to death in Egypt

More than 500 supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi were today sentenced to death after a mass trial for murdering a policeman and committing other acts of violence.
A court in Minya sentenced 529 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood -- to which 62-year-old Morsi belongs -- to death.
The court acquitted 16 other defendants on trial for murdering a police officer, attempted killing of two others, attacking a police station and other acts of violence.
The alleged attacks are said to have taken place in southern Egypt in August last year after security forces broke up two Cairo protest camps of Morsi supporters demanding his reinstatement.

The group is part of a larger trial involving more than 1,200 Morsi supporters.
Egyptian authorities have cracked down harshly on Islamists since Morsi was removed in July. Thousands have been arrested and hundreds killed.