CAIRO, Jan 22 (Aswat Masriya) A  court sentenced three defendants to two years in prison for destructing a martyr's memorial stone set in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

The defendants were accused of thuggery, rioting and destroying the foundation of the memorial stone set to commemorate martyrs who died during the January uprising in 2011.

Dozens of activists have demolished the monument's foundation stone one day before the anniversary of violent confrontations between protesters and security forces where tens were killed, commonly known as Mohamed Mahmoud clashes.

The government erected the base of the memorial last November in Tahrir, center of protests since 2011, and it was inaugurated by interim Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi.

The authorities rebuilt the memorial's foundation stone in December after its destruction.