CAIRO, May 23 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian court sentenced 30 supporters of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi to 25 years in prison and 16 others to 15 years over inciting riots and organizing anti-state protests following Morsi's ouster in mid-2013.
The 46 convicts were arrested in Sharqiya province north of the capital Cairo while distributing anti-government publications, impeding traffic, inciting riots and protests and raising signs and posters of support to Morsi, who was removed by the military in early July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule.
Later, security crackdown on Morsi's loyalists left about 1,000 of them dead and thousands more arrested, while Morsi himself is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence over inciting deadly clashes between his supporters and opponents outside a presidential palace in late 2012.
Since Morsi's removal, Egypt has been facing a rising wave of terrorist attacks that left hundreds of police and military men dead, mostly claimed by a Sinai-based militant group loyal to the Islamic State (IS).
