Egypt jails students, doctors for protesting without permit

An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced 10 university students and three doctors to three years in prison for holding anti-government protests at Al-Azhar University without permission, state-run Ahram news website reported. The country's newly-approved protest law bars demonstrations without prior permission from authorities. In a similar sentencing in late March, a court sentenced three students form Ain Shams University to four years in prison, in addition to a fine of 100,000 Egyptian pounds (about 14,200 U.S. dollars) each for protesting in defiance of the protest law. The Egyptian authorities have launched a massive security crackdown on anti-government protests since the ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by the military last July. Last August, security forces cleared two major pro-Morsi sit- ins in Cairo and Giza, leaving hundreds dead and thousands arrested. Suspected extremist supporters of Morsi have since staged terrorist attacks against security staff and facilities over the past few months, which left dozens killed and hundreds injured. In late December, the country's interim government blacklisted the Muslim Brotherhood group, from which Morsi hails, as "a terrorist organization."