CAIRO, Jul 18 (Aswat Masriya) - A Cairo court sentenced seven students on Monday to 15 years in prison on charges of violence that took place at Ain Shams University last year.  

The incident dates back to early 2015, when a number of students staged a protest at Ain Shams University in commemoration of the January 25 uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak. Security officials said the defendants were Muslim Brotherhood members.

The prosecution accused the students of joining an illegal group, threatening to use violence, damaging public property, and disturbing public peace.

Egypt listed the Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation in December 2013 and insists it is behind the stringent wave of militancy which has targeted security personnel since the ouster of Islamist President Mursi. The Brotherhood continuously denies the accusations.

The students, who were tried in absentia, were also accused of protesting without a permit and spreading chaos inside the university's campus. 

A number of state-owned universities banned all on-campus student politics in 2014.

A protest law issued in 2013 requires assembly organisers to notify security sources of their plans in advance, granting the interior ministry the right to cancel protests.

The controversial law, described by Human Rights Watch as "deeply restrictive" and by Amnesty International as "draconian", sets prison sentences ranging between two and five years for those who violate it.