An Egyptian court sentenced 43 individuals to life in prison Tuesday for crimes of vandalism, rioting and attacking Egyptian authorities. The acts for which the protesters were convicted took place in 2011, among an outbreak of demonstrations against then-president Hosni Mubarak [BBC profile]. The defendants were also fined [Reuters report] 17 million Egyptian pounds. Ten other protesters were handed down lesser sentences of five or ten years, 96 protesters were acquitted of their charges. The convicted parties may appeal their sentences.

The Egyptian Revolution [JURIST backgrounder] sparked a string of legal proceedings, many of which are still playing out. In April a Cairo criminal court sentenced [JURIST report] Muslim Brotherhood [BBC backgrounder] leader Wagdy Ghoneim to death, in absentia. In March Mubarak was released from prison after six years in custody after he was acquitted [JURIST reports] in a retrial of charges that he killed protesters during the civil uprising in 2011 that ended his 30-year reign. In January Egyptian activist and youth leader Ahmed Maher, known for his role in the 2011 revolution against the former president, was released [JURIST report] from prison following his arrest in 2013.