CAIRO: An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced 11 senior Muslim Brotherhood figures to life in prison on charges of spying for the Palestinian Hamas group, a judicial source said.

They included the Brotherhood’s supreme guide Mohamed Badie and his deputy Khairat al-Shater who were both handed life sentences — 25 years in Egypt.

Five other Brotherhood members were sentenced to jail terms ranging from seven to 10 years while six were acquitted, the source said. The defendants were accused of “committing crimes in collaboration with foreign organisations” namely Hamas and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, the source said.

The case initially involved ousted president Mohamed Morsi who died after falling ill during a court session in June. Morsi, who hailed from the Brotherhood, was overthrown by the military in 2013 after a year of rule.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2019