The anti-government protesters received the jail terms on Monday over charges of violence during rallies in the capital on January 25.

Since the ouster of the country’s former president, Mohamed Morsi, by the army in July 2013, his supporters have held near daily demonstrations, which have been met by a brutal crackdown by security forces. More than 1,400 people have been reportedly killed in the crackdown.

Egyptian authorities have also rounded up thousands of Muslim Brotherhood’s supporters following the overthrow of Morsi. Hundreds have been handed lengthy jail terms and many sentenced to death in hasty trials.

On June 6, Egyptian police detained 15 supporters of Morsi before inauguration of new President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi who was officially declared as the winner of a two-candidate poll held in May.

Egypt’s election commission put the turnout at 47.5 percent of the country's 53 million eligible voters during the three-day vote. Some opposition movements, however, put the voter turnout at about 11 percent.

The Brotherhood and pro-democracy groups boycotted the election, a move that apparently led to a lower turnout than the election that brought Morsi to power.

Sisi, who was Egypt’s former military chief and led Morsi’s ouster, was sworn in as president before the general assembly of the Supreme Constitutional Court on June 8.

Sisi’s presidency places Egypt back in the hands of a top military official just three years after the 2011 popular uprising against Mubarak, an air force officer who ruled the North African country for nearly three decades.

RA/NJF