A Cairo Criminal Court handed life imprisonment sentences to eight people and acquitted seven others, including a footballer, over joining a group affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organisation. The court's terrorism division sentenced 28 others in the same case to prison terms ranging from three to 15 years. The acquittals include Aswan FC footballer Hamada El-Sayed. The sentences can still be appealed by the defendants. The defendants were referred to the criminal court by the general prosecutor in December 2018 and charged with leading a terrorist group inside the country during the period between 2015 and February 2018. According to the prosecution, the defendants, based in several governorates, including Cairo and North Sinai, established cluster cells in cooperation with Wilayet Sinai terrorist organisation, which aims to carry out terrorist attacks in the country, including against Egyptian Copts and places of worship, army and police members and headquarters. Wilayat Sinai is the self-proclaimed name of the terrorist group formerly known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, which declared allegiance to ISIS in November 2014.
