[JURIST] An Egyptian criminal court on Saturday sentenced US citizen Mohamed Soltan to life in prison for supporting the Muslim Brotherhood [BBC backgrounder] and for transmitting false news. Soltan, who was arrested in 2013 and staged a hunger strike while in prison, is a citizen of both the US and Egypt. Judge Mohamed Nagi Shehata, who handed down [Reuters report] Soltan’s life sentence and sentenced 14 other members of the Brotherhood to death, addressed reporters regarding Soltan’s sentence, stating, “He deserves the punishment because of the money and instructions from the Brotherhood which were found with him, and for spreading chaos and horror in society.” Soltan and the 14 men sentenced to death, including Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie [JURIST news archive], have the option to appeal their sentences to Egypt’s highest civilian court. A relative to Soltan, Sara Mohamed, said the Soltan family plans to appeal.

Political conflict in Egypt has been ongoing since the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi [JURIST news archive] in 2013, and political backlash has been particularly strong against his Muslim Brotherhood party. Late last month an Egyptian court acquitted [JURIST report] 68 people, including members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, who were charged with gathering illegally and attacking security forces earlier this year. Also in March an Egyptian court sentenced [JURIST report] a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and 13 others to death after finding them guilty of planning attacks against the state. In February An Egyptian court sentenced [JURIST report] four members of the Muslim Brotherhood to death, along with 14 others to life in prison. The individuals were accused of murder and possession of firearms, among other charges, after clashes near the Muslim Brotherhood’s headquarters, which occurred just days before the ouster of Morsi. Also in February an Egyptian court ordered the release [JURIST report] on bail of two Al Jazeera journalists being retried on terror charges.