Egypt confirms life sentences for Muslim Brotherhood figures

An Egyptian court on Sunday confirmed life sentences for 10 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, including its leader, over prison breaks and police killings during the 2011 revolution.

The movement's supreme guide Mohamed Badie and his nine co-defendants were originally handed the life sentences - 25 years in Egypt - in 2019.

They had been found guilty of conspiring with members of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas to enter prisons and free Islamist detainees.

The Court of Cassation, the highest court in Egypt's criminal judicial system, on Sunday also acquitted eight other, lower-ranking Brotherhood members.

They had been sentenced to 15 years in prison for violence during the revolution which overthrew dictator Hosni Mubarak.

Mubarak was succeeded by president Mohamed Morsi.

But the army, led by now-President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, toppled Morsi amid mass protests against his rule.

Sisi outlawed the Brotherhood in late 2013 and has overseen a wide-ranging crackdown, jailing thousands of its supporters.

The court's rulings on Sunday are final and cannot be appealed.

Last month, the same court confirmed 12 death sentences against Muslim Brotherhood members, including two senior figures, for various offences including bomb-making.