26 sentenced in jail over promoting anti-state media in Egypt

An Egyptian court sentenced on Thursday 26 defendants, including 19 fugitives, from five to 15 years in jail over promoting and working for anti-state media channels outside Egypt in favor of the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood group, official MENA news agency reported.

Giza Criminal Court sentenced five of the defendants to 15 years in jail and 21 to five years and acquitted another two in the case known in Egypt as "the Brotherhood media case" that includes 28 defendants.

Most of the defendants work for pro-Brotherhood TV channels broadcasted from outside Egypt, mainly from Qatar and Turkey, including Al Jazeera, Al Sharq and Mekameleen.

The prosecution also charged the defendants with illegally forming and joining an anti-state group called "the Egyptian council for change" with the purpose of obstructing and undermining state institutions and authorities.

One of the defendants, Hesham Abdallah, is an Egyptian actor who fled the country and worked as a presenter of a TV show defending the Brotherhood and criticizing the Egyptian government.

The Muslim Brotherhood group of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi is currently outlawed in Egypt as a terrorist organization.

Egypt has been facing terrorist activities that killed hundreds of policemen, soldiers and civilians over the past few years, most of which were claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the Islamic State (IS) regional terrorist group.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian army and police killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested thousands of suspects during the country's ongoing anti-terror war declared by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.