Egyptian court jails 102 Brotherhood supporters for 10 years

CAIRO: An Egyptian criminal court has sentenced 102 defendants it describes as Muslim Brotherhood supporters to 10 years in prison each on charges of violent rioting in a Cairo neighborhood and possession of weapons.

Egypt´s state news agency said the Saturday ruling puts the defendants under police surveillance for a period of five years after the end of their prison sentences. Two other defendants were jailed for seven years in the case.

The ruling is linked to demonstrations staged to protest the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi by the military in July.

Morsi´s ouster followed days of mass demonstrations demanding his resignation.

The prosecutors charged the defendants with gathering illegally with intent to inflict material and moral harm to others and public property, which led to one death. (AP)

Myanmar jails two imams for deadly school blaze

YANGON: Two imams in Myanmar have been sentenced to eight years in prison for negligence over a fire at a religious school that killed 13 boys, state media said Saturday.

Around 70 children, some orphans, were sleeping in dormitories at the school inside a mosque complex in Yangon when the blaze broke out in April 2013.A court in Yangon said in its ruling on Friday that the fire was caused by overheating of an electrical regulator and that the door of the school was locked, according to the New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

The victims died of suffocation when they were unable to escape.

The tragedy fanned religious tensions in the country following a wave of deadly Buddhist-Muslim unrest, but the authorities were quick to rule out arson.

The two defendants plan to launch an appeal, the report said.