CAIRO, Jun 28 (Aswat Masriya) – An Egyptian criminal court sentenced the former assistant governor of the province of Minya on Tuesday to 15 years in prison on charges of protesting and inciting violence.

Ahmed Shehata Hassanein is the former assistant to Minya Governor Mostafa Eissa, who was separately arrested in 2013 on charges of belonging to the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood group.

Eissa was appointed as governor during the tenure of former President Mohamed Mursi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood and who was ousted by the military in July 2013 following mass protests against his rule. 

Egyptian authorities listed the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation in December 2013 and insist it is behind a wave of militancy that has targeted security personnel since July 2013.

The Brotherhood continuously denies the accusations

The prosecution accused Hassanein of implementing an alleged Muslim Brotherhood plan to baffle the police, the judiciary and the media during celebrations of the third anniversary of the January 2011 Uprising in 2014.

He was also accused of calling for protest and creating social media pages that incite violence and spread chaos including a page entitled the "Freedom and Justice Party", which follows the name of the Brotherhood’s political party.

The current Minya governor is Major General Tarek Nasr, who has previously assumed several positions in the security establishment. 

Since Mursi's ouster, Egyptian authorities have led a crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood leaders and supporters, who have often found themselves behind bars or facing court cases. 

Most recently, on Jun. 18, Mursi was sentenced to 40 years in prison on accusations that included leaking important national security documents and information on the Egyptian Armed Forces to Qatar.