Former President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi was sentenced to jail for ordering the arrest and torture of protesters during his rule. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Mohamed Morsi, who was ousted as Egypt’s president in July 2013, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by an Egyptian court on Tuesday.

A leading figure in the Muslim Brotherhood—a political party that is now a state-designated terrorist organization in Egypt—Morsi was convicted on charges of inciting a show of force and violence, arresting protesters, and physically abusing protesters outside of his presidential palace in December 2012, Al-Ahram reported.

Several other Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including ex-presidential aides Mohamed El-Beltagy and Essam El-Erian, also received 20-year sentences, while senior Brotherhood figures Ali Gamal Saber and Abdel-Hakim Abdel-Rahman received 10-year sentences. All of the defendants were acquitted, however, on charges of premeditated murder and possessing ammunition.

Morsi was ousted in a popular military coup by then-defense minister Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who is now Egypt’s president. El-Sisi has led a widespread crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, arresting many of its top leaders. The Brotherhood is the parent group of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas.