An Egyptian court has condemned leader of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, and 13 other senior members to death, Press TV reported.
A Cairo criminal court on Monday handed down death sentences to Badie, the highest ranking leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and 13 other leading members of the group.
The 14 were found guilty of planning attacks against the state. Among the convicts were Muslim Brotherhood spokesperson, Mahmoud Ghozlan, former Kafr-Sheikh governor, Saad El-Hossainy, and preacher, Salah Sultan.
The death sentences are expected to be referred to Egypt's Grand Mufti. The official, whose decisions are not binding according to Egypt's judicial law, could revise the verdicts but the final decision will again be issued by the court itself.
The Egyptian government accused Badie and other Muslim Brotherhood members of setting up an operation to direct the supporters of the group across the country after the violent crackdown on protesters in August 2013 in Cairo's al-Adawiya Square to defy the state and spread mayhem, as well as organize attacks on police stations, private property and churches. The controversial case has been known in the Egyptian media as "Rabaa control room."
Badie has stood other trials related to demonstrations by Muslim Brotherhood supporters. He was sentenced to death in some of those cases, but the verdicts were later reduced to life in prison.
In November 2013, the Egyptian government enlisted Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
The government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has been engaged in a heavy-handed crackdown on the supporters of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically-elected president, who also hails from Mulsim Brotherhood.
Morsi was ousted in July 2013 in a coup led by Sisi who was then the army commander.