In this May 8, 2014, file photo, Egypt's ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi sits in a defendant cage in the Police Academy courthouse in Cairo, Egypt.(Photo: AP)
A court in Egypt on Tuesday sentenced ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to 20 years in prison over his role in the killing of protesters in 2012.
The verdict is the first to be issued against the country's former leader, who along with thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members — the party he fronted that has since been banned — is facing several other trials related to his time in power.
The incident for which he was found guilty stems from violence in December 2012 outside Egypt's presidential palace. In that incident, the court said, Morsi incited his supporters to attack opposition protesters, sparking clashes that killed at least 10 people.
Morsi has consistently maintained his innocence and rejected the authority of the Cairo Criminal Court. He says that he was the victim of a military coup by Abdul Fattah al-Sisi — Egypt's current president but chief of the army at the time of Morsi's arrest.
Morsi was Egypt's first freely elected leader following years of rule by Hosni Mubarak. He has been held at a high-security prison near the Mediterranean city of Alexandria since the army overthrew him in July 2013.
He faces upcoming trials over allegations related to colluding with foreign militants and endangering national security.
Hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Egypt have been jailed or sentenced to death in the wake of Morsi's ouster as authorities have aggressively cracked down on Islamist opponents.
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