An Egyptian court has jailed 78 boys, some as young as thirteen, for participating in a Muslim Brotherhood protest.
The boys, who are all under eighteen, have been handed sentences ranging from months to five years for being present at a rally calling for the return of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
A lawyer defending some of the boys says they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Ever since Morsi was deposed, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been cracking down on any opposition. At least 1,400 supporters of the democratically elected former president have died and more than 15,000 are in prison. A draft antiterrorism law was approved on Wednesday, giving the government blanket powers to ban opposition groups on charges such as harming national unity and disrupting public order.
Morsi faces of series of charges levelled against him by Sisi’s administration and has denounced his trial at the hands of an Egyptian court which he has called illegitimate.
