Egypt sentences 14 Muslim Brotherhood members to life

An Egyptian court has sentenced 14 people, including an adviser to an ousted Islamist president, to life in prison for membership in the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

Abdullah Shehata was an economic adviser to the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated president Mohammad Morsi, who was democratically elected in 2012 following the overthrow of longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak.

The state-run Al-Ahram news website reported on Thursday that out of the 14, eight were sentenced in absentia.

Thursday's verdict by the Cairo Criminal Court included 15-year sentences that were handed down to six other defendants, while one person was sentenced to 10 years. The verdicts can be appealed.

Along with Brotherhood membership, charges included possessing firearms, violating citizens' personal freedoms and disrupting constitutional provisions.

The Egyptian government blacklisted the Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation and launched a harsh crackdown on its supporters and leaders after the ousting of Morsi in July 2013.

The crackdown extended to other opponents of then army chief now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who was elected a year after Morsi's overthrow.