![Egyptian police officer entering the Tora prison in the Egyptian capital Cairo, on February 11, 2020 [KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/GettyImages-1200227024.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Egypt’s court of cassation yesterday sentenced 23 members of the Muslim Brotherhood to five years in prison and acquitted five others.
According to Youm7, the Egyptian public prosecutor convicted the defendants of “joining a banned group, demonstrating without permission and inciting violence against state institutions.”
Security forces in Egypt’s Damietta governorate arrested the suspects in a security campaign in the province’s Basarta village, claimed to be a Muslim Brotherhood stronghold, over alleged possession of 24 Molotov cocktails and fireworks.
El Basarta has been under security siege and has been suffering repeated human rights violations by Egyptian security forces since 2017.
Read testimonies of protesters during the 18 days that changed Egypt
![10 years on from the Egyptian Revolution [Mohammed Sabaaneh]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/CARTOON-EGYPT-REVOLUTION-25-JAN-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C745&ssl=1)
10 years on from the Egyptian Revolution
[Mohammed Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]