THE NEW SENTENCES PASSED ON MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD MEMBERS

The new sentences passed on Muslim Brotherhood members came over charges relating to an attack on a police station last year.

The deadly attack on August 14 in the city of Minya, where the trial was held, came on a day of violent clashes between Morsi supporters and Egyptian security troops.

The Islamist movement Muslim Brotherhood, which remained in hideout in Egypt for decades, became a prominent political force following the public uprising against President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. It managed to win enough votes in 2012 election to bring its candidate Morsi to power.

His government however failed to address acute economic and security problems that Egypt was facing, with protests continuing. A year after Morsi took the presidential oath, the Egyptian military staged a coup d'état and deposed him. The Muslim Brotherhood was subsequently outlawed again.

Former Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is seeking presidency now in upcoming May election. Morsi supporters and members of Islamist political parties close to the Muslim Brotherhood are calling on a boycott of the poll.

Sisi, a strongman widely seen as the de facto ruler of Egypt, is trumpeted by his supporters as a figure that can stabilize the country in a time of crisis. There is little doubt that he will win the election, in which he has only one opponent: leftist Hamdeen Sabahi, who came third in the 2012 election.

Image: Chaos in Minya as families learn 37 sentenced to death the rest life in prison (By agencies)