CAIRO — Egypt on Wednesday sentenced 35 alleged Muslim Brotherhood members to life in prison for allegedly forming "terrorist cells" to attack security forces and state institutions. The Sohag Criminal Court in central Egypt sentenced another 155 defendants to three to 15 years in prison on similar charges, including plotting to kill public figures and security officials, and joining an outlawed group, a reference to the Brotherhood. Two of the suspects were sentenced in absentia and they will be re-tried once they are apprehended, Khaled el-Masry told The Associated Press. The Brotherhood won a series of free elections after Egypt's 2011 uprising, and a senior Brotherhood figure, Mohammed Morsi, was elected president in 2012. Egypt's military, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, ousted former president Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July 2013 following mass protests against his rule. Authorities have since branded the Brotherhood a terrorist organization.
The Sohag Criminal Court in Egypt sentences 35 alleged Muslim Brotherhood members to life imprisonment and imposes prison terms on 155 more. Separately, a military court sentences four more to life imprisonment, imposes prison terms on two others, and acquits 13.