Story highlights The death sentences will be appealed

Mohamed Soltan, a 27-year-old U.S.-Egyptian activist on a hunger strike, is sentenced to life in prison

Letter from Soltan's sister: "Your face, with its beautiful smile ... now looks permanently in pain"

(CNN) An Egyptian court sentenced the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, on Saturday to death by hanging, along with 13 members of his group.

The sentences will be appealed.

The criminal court sentenced 36 other defendants to life in prison on charges of plotting terrorist attacks against state facilities.

They faced charges that include "funding the Rabaa al-Adawiya sit-in" -- a mass protest in Cairo in August 2013 that was forcibly dispersed by security personnel -- and spreading "false information" to destabilize Egypt. They were arrested in a sweeping crackdown on supporters of former President Mohamed Morsy, the country's first democratically elected president, who was overthrown in 2013 in a military coup that bitterly split Egyptians.

One of those sentenced to life in prison was Mohamad Soltan, a 27-year-old U.S.-Egyptian activist. He has been languishing in Cairo's notorious Tora Prison, where he has been on a hunger strike for more than 14 months.