An Egyptian court has sentenced six students to a total of 25 years in prison for organizing anti-government protests in the northwestern city of Faqous, Press TV reports.

On Thursday, a military court in Zaqaziq, the capital of Sharqia Governorate, handed down three to 10-year jail terms to the six activists who have already served 18 months in police custody.

The verdict came a day after a court in the Egyptian capital city of Cairo sentenced six other students to three-year prison terms each on the same charges.They were also ordered to pay 50,000 Egyptian pounds each (USD 6,500).

Also on Tuesday, another military court in the Egyptian central province of Assyut sentenced 57 Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters to 7 to 25-year prison terms over their alleged attack on a police station in Abnoub village.

Meanwhile, a court in Cairo handed down a 15-year jail term to a police officer for killing renowned leftist female activist Shaimaa al-Sabbagh during an anti-government rally.

Judge Mostafa Hassan convicted first lieutenant Yasseen Mohamed over shooting dead the activist during a protest in downtown Cairo on the fourth anniversary of the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak.

The Egyptian government is heavily censured by rights groups for its heavy-handed crackdown on the supporters of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president who was ousted in a military coup in July 2013.

Hundreds of supporters of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement have been killed and thousands of others detained during Cairo’s clampdown. This is while many of those in custody, including Morsi himself, have received death sentences following speedy mass trials.

FNR/KA/HMV