20 get life sentences over deadly clashes following Egypt's massacre verdict

An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced 20 defendants to life in prison over deadly clashes outside a police station after a verdict on the Port Said Stadium massacre of February 2012 was released.

The Port Said Criminal Court also sentenced 12 other defendants to 10 years in jail.

They were accused of killing 42 people including two police officers and injuring 150 others in clashes with security forces outside the Port Said police station following the announcement of the verdict.

In the 2012 massacre, some 72 soccer fans were killed and 254 others wounded in Egypt's worst ever violent soccer riot that erupted at the end of a game.

Only 21 of the defendants were sentenced to death over the game riots, which triggered the angry of the families of the victims and incited the clashes outside the Port Said police station on March 9, 2013.

Source: XINHUA