The case, tried on Saturday, includes a total of 48 accused, including the Muslim Brotherhood’s top leader Mohamed Badie, who was not amongst the 10 sentenced to death.

In accordance with Egyptian law, the court referred the death sentence to the country's Grand Mufti to review the verdicts.

All the 10 sentenced to death, however, remain at large.

The trial of the remaining 38 defendants is due to continue on July 5.

This is not the first mass death sentence announced against Morsi loyalists, who have been arrested in the thousands since last August.

In March, the Upper Egypt Minya Criminal Court sentenced 529 Brotherhood supporters to death on the allegation of killing the deputy commander of the Matay district police station in Minya, during riots that erupted in the aftermath of the forced dispersal in August 2013 of pro-Morsi protest camps which left hundreds of anti-military protesters dead.

The Egyptian military was then led by former army chief and now president-elect Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is widely considered as the man behind the coup against Morsi as well as the brutal crackdown on his supporters which led to the killing of hundreds and arrest of over 15,000 protesters.

According to Egyptian press reports, militant attacks on the country’s security forces escalated since the ouster of Morsi last July, leaving more than 500 officers and soldiers dead. 

This while the Muslim Brotherhood has repeatedly denied any involvement in such violence, contrary to government claims. The group was declared a terrorist organization by the military-installed government last December.

MB/MB