[JURIST] An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced 34 supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi [BBC backgrounder] each to two years in prison and a USD $1,600 fine for their alleged participation in violence during celebrations of the three-year anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution [JURIST backgrounder]. The defendants were convicted [AllAfrica report] for violating Egypt’s recent protest law [JURIST report] which requires demonstrators to obtain permission from authorities one week before demonstrating. The defendants were also accused and convicted of vandalizing public and private property, attacking authorities, and belonging to a terrorist organization—the Muslim Brotherhood [official website; JURIST news archive].

Arrests and prosecutions of supporters for Morsi have been an ongoing issue in Egypt. Egyptian authorities have arrested and sentenced thousands of Morsi supporters [PressTV report] since his ouster last July. Last month Egypt’s Court of Cassation sentenced 19 Morsi-supporters to five years in prison [JURIST report] for rioting last year outside the Al-Azhar Islamic institution. Also in May, an Egyptian court acquitted 169 Muslim Brotherhood supporters on charges relating to the violence following the ouster of Morsi [JURIST reports] last year. Last month an Egyptian judge sentenced [JURIST report] 683 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death, including the group’s supreme guide, Mohamed Badie [Washington Institute backgrounder]. The judge also confirmed the death sentence of 37 of 529 Muslim Brotherhood supporters sentenced to death in March [JURIST report]. The remaining defendants’ sentences were commuted to life prison.