Over 200 people were sentenced to varied prison terms in separate cases by the Mansoura Criminal Court, in the governorate of Daqahleya, on Monday. The prosecution released a statement detailing the list of charges and the corresponding sentences. A group of 195 were sentenced in separate cases for charges of illegal assembly, blocking roads, disrupting transport, vandalism, possessing firearms, ammunition, melee weapons and Molotov cocktails, and attempted murder. Life sentences were handed to 59 of the defendants and 56 sentenced to one year prison with labour. The remaining defendants received varied punishments: seven were served 15 years in a maximum security prison, 28 were handed 10 years in maximum security, and seven others were ordered to seven years in a high security prison. Additionally, 28 others were handed five years in high security prison, five were ordered to three years in high security, and another five were ordered to three years with labour. The prosecution described the sentences as a "deterrent". In another case involving 24 defendants, the same Mansoura court sentenced 22 people to life imprisonment, for the mob killing of a taxi driver in December. Another defendant was sentenced to seven years in prison and one minor was ordered to be sent to a social welfare centre. The 34-year old taxi driver was killed in December by an angry mob after he drove through a rally supporting ousted president Mohamed Morsi, and allegedly ran over five protesters. "The defendants participated in a gathering organised by the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood on a main street in Mansoura city, possessing melee weapons and Molotov cocktails," the prosecution said, adding that the defendants threatened to use violence to "kill anyone who confronts them." Prosecution states that the defendants intercepted the driver's way, damaged his car and killed him. The rally was part of a series of regular protests held by Morsi supporters in the second half of 2013, calling for his reinstatement. The mob killing has become a high profile case in the media, however versions are disparate, depending on the outlet or group reporting. The Ministry of Interior said the driver was trying to "make his way" through around 200 protesters when they assaulted him verbally and physically, eventually chasing him and attacking him with bladed weapons when he tried to escape. The Anti-Coup Alliance, a pro-Morsi coalition, however, said their protest was entirely peaceful, and accused the driver of driving through the rally at "full speed".
