Iraq News Now

An Egyptian court handed life sentences to Hassan Malik, a

leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, as well as his son Hamza and five

others on Tuesday after convicting them of terrorism offences.

The charges included leading a terrorist organisation,

supporting it financially and taking actions aimed at hurting the economy,

based in part on a search of Malik's home in which Muslim Brotherhood documents

were found that allegedly outlined plots against the state, a judicial source

told Reuters.

The source said the documents outlined plans to damage

Egypt's economy by manipulating the value of the Egyptian pound against the

dollar. They also said the documents described plans to attack armed forces,

police and tourists and that they incited the use of violence to overthrow the

government.

The Brotherhood, Egypt's main Islamist movement for almost a

century, denies allegations of terrorism, saying it seeks political change

solely by peaceful means.

Malik, a businessman, was in court for the trial, dressed in

white prison garb, while his son Hamza and five other Brotherhood defendants

were tried in absentia. Malik earlier denied the charges in court.

Tuesday's ruling can be appealed within two months.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government declared the

Brotherhood a terrorist organisation in 2014, a year after the ouster of Mohamed Mursi, a senior Brotherhood figure, following mass protests against his

rule.

Tuesday's verdict came as US President Donald Trump's

administration, a security ally of Sisi, was moving to designate the

Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organisation, which would bring sanctions

against the veteran Islamist movement.

Sisi has denied holding political prisoners and his backers

say the security measures have been necessary to stabilise Egypt after its 2011

popular uprising.

In a separate case, 34 people were sentenced to life in

prison on Tuesday on charges including planning Islamist militant attacks in

Giza and Alexandria.