A senior leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood was convicted on terror charges and sentenced Thursday to life in prison, months after he was detained in a Cairo apartment.
According to the Middle East News Agency, a Cairo court found Mahmoud Ezzat, the acting supreme guide of the Brotherhood, guilty of terror acts that followed the 2013 military overthrow of president Mohammed Morsi.
In August, 76-year-old Ezzat was arrested after police found him hiding in an apartment in Cairo’s Fifth Settlement district.
According to authorities at the time, a search of the apartment uncovered computers and mobile phones with encrypted software that allowed Ezzat to communicate with group members in Egypt and abroad. Documents with “destructive plans” were also found, police said.
Ezzat was named the group’s acting leader in August 2013 after Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie’s arrest. He was convicted of several terror-related crimes and sentenced twice to death in absentia.
Following his arrest, he was retried, as Egyptian law dictates.
