[JURIST] Former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi [BBC profile] was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday after being convicted of inciting violence and ordering the killing and torturing of protesters in 2012. The court did not convict [Al Jazeera report] Morsi, or any of the 14 other defendants, of murder, which could have resulted in death sentences. The former democratically elected president is currently awaiting verdicts in numerous other cases against him, including charges of espionage and leaking information to Qatar [JURIST report]. Amnesty International [advocacy website] criticized the trial [report] and conviction for being unfair from the start and politically motivated. The rights group called for Morsi to be released or granted a retrial.

Clashes between Morsi supporters, including the Muslim Brotherhood [BBC backgrounder], and current President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi [BBC profile] since the ouster of Morsi [JURIST backgrounder] have resulted in an intense national security campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters. In February four members of the Muslim Brotherhood were sentenced to death [JURIST report] for murder and possession of firearms. Earlier in February an Egyptian court ordered a retrial [JURIST report] of 36 Muslim Brotherhood supporters. The 36 are among 183 supporters sentenced to death in June in connection with violence following Morsi’s ouster. In January security forces arrested [JURIST report] 516 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. In August the Supreme Administrative Court in Egypt dissolved [JURIST report] the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.