Sohag Criminal Court handed down on Thursday harsh jail sentences against 67 members of Muslim Brotherhood over charges of attempting to break into the governorate's City Hall.

The court under Counselor Hamdi Abdel Aziz sentenced 22 defendants to ten years in jail, 29 to five years and nine others to three years in jail.

Seven defendants were acquitted by the court.

The court also fined all defendants 43,300 pounds for the damage they made after trying to force their way into the City Hall following the dispersal of pro-Morsi Rabaa and Nahada sit-in camps in July.

The verdict session was tightly secured.

Some of the defendants are being tried in absentia.