Egyptian authorities sentenced four Muslim Brotherhood members to life in jail over burning church

An Egyptian court on Tuesday sentenced four members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to life in jail over accusation of burning a church in southwest Cairo, official news agency MENA reported.

Life sentence in Egypt is 25 years in jail.

The case dates back to August 2013 when the defendants set a church in Kerdasa area, which is largely inhabited by Islamists, ablaze.

The convicted were also finned 20,000 Egyptian pounds (1,119 U.S. dollars) for each.

They were charged of joining banned group, possessing weapons, blocking the road and disturbing the public order, according to the prosecutor.

Egypt has been experiencing anti-security attacks since the army-led ouster of the Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi in 2013, and ban of his Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist in 2014.

Thousands of Islamists were detained and hundreds were facing trials. Morsi and prominent figures of his group have received final verdicts that varied from death to life sentences over accusations of murder, violence and spying.

Source: Xinhuanet