Egypt: 69 Are Sentenced to Long Prison Terms for Burning a Church

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/30/world/middleeast/egypt-69-are-sentenced-to-long-prison-terms-for-burning-a-church.html

Version 0 of 1.

Sixty-nine people suspected of being supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood were sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday for burning a church in a village near Cairo in 2013, court officials said. The church in the village of Kafr Hakim was burned during a wave of violence after the army toppled President Mohamed Morsi. Judge Mohamed Nagi Shehata also sentenced two other juvenile defendants to 10 years in jail without parole, the officials said. All the defendants were convicted on charges that included deliberately setting fire to a church and looting it, they added. Hany el-Sayed, a defense lawyer for some of the defendants, said: “There is no proof against the defendants. Even the church’s priest said he didn’t see any of the defendants after the incident.” The verdict can be appealed.