Muslim Brotherhood supporters have been taking to the streets again in Egypt, protesting against the heavy sentences imposed on 21 female supporters of the ousted President Mohammed Morsi.
The girls and women were arrested for taking part in an early morning demonstration in October and have received prison sentences of 11 years, the BBC reports.
Among the group are seven teenagers under the age of 18 - they're being sent to a juvenile prison - and human rights groups in Egypt criticised the sentences, with one campaigner describing the verdict as madness.
The 21 women and teenagers were found guilty of multiple charges, including belonging to a terrorist group, obstructing traffic, sabotage and using force at a protest in the city of Alexandria last month.
Relatives say it was peaceful
Relatives say it was the first protest by the group, called the 7am movement, and that it was peaceful. One family told the BBC their 15-year-old daughter was only passing by on her way to school.
A defence lawyer said the women expected to be sentenced to a month in jail at most, but the BBC reports that instead they have been given longer jail terms than police convicted of killing or seriously injuring civilians.
The court also sentenced six Muslim Brotherhood leaders to 15 years in prison for inciting the protest. One report said the men had been tried in absentia.
The verdicts come after the arrest of dozens of secular activists in Cairo, including another group of women who say they were beaten, harassed and left stranded in the desert.
They were demonstrating against a stringent new law which all but bans public protests, part of a crackdown the interim authorities have portrayed as a struggle against "terrorism".
