October 10, 2017 - 3:38 AM
CAIRO - An Egyptian court has sentenced eight defendants to death over storming a police station in a city just south of Cairo in 2013.
The ruling on Tuesday by the Cairo Criminal Court also sentenced 50 others to life in prison on charges that include the 2013 attack on the Helwan police station.
The attack came after security forces dispersed two sit-ins by supporters of an Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, who was overthrown by the military in 2013.
The verdict can be appealed. Prosecutors have already received a non-binding approval for the death penalty in the case from the country's chief Islamic legal authority, the Grand Mufti.
Egypt has waged a sweeping crackdown against Morsi's now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, jailing thousands and killing hundreds in street clashes following his overthrow.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017