Rallies Staged in Egypt in Protest at Mursi's Jail Sentence

Pro-Mursi protesters held massive demonstrations across Egypt after a criminal court sentenced him to 20 years in prison over the alleged killing of protesters in 2012, the first verdict issued against the North African country's first elected leader.

Earlier, in a statement on Tuesday, the Muslim Brotherhood had called on the Egyptian people to hold protests and support the movement's leader, who was elected as president in the "only free and sound" election of the country.

The Cairo Criminal Court issued the verdict Tuesday as Mursi and other defendants in the case stood in a soundproof glass cage inside a makeshift courtroom at Egypt's national police academy.

Mursi was charged with inciting the killing of protesters, in connection to the deaths of 10 people outside the presidential palace in December 2012.

He also faces serious charges in three other cases.

Mursi was deposed by his then military chief and Minister of Defense Abdel Fattah el-Sisi after mass protests against his rule in the summer of 2013.

Following the coup, the former president's supporters launched a series of protests and sit-ins across the country culminating in a crackdown by security forces that left hundreds dead.