Cairo: An Egyptian court has sentenced 75 people to death, including leaders of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, for their involvement in a 2013 sit-in protest in Cairo that spiralled into violence and resulted in the death of hundreds of demonstrators by security forces.

Mahmoud Abu Zaid, a photojournalist known as Shawkan smiles inside a cage in an Egyptian Court in Cairo, Egypt, on Saturday. Credit:AP

Cairo Criminal Court was considering the case of 739 people facing charges ranging from killing police officers, incitement to violence and damaging property during the 2013 violence in Rabaa al-Adawiya, a square in Cairo. Forty-seven people, including the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, were sentenced to life in prison.

The mass trial has been widely condemned by human rights organisations, including Amnesty International which called it a "grotesque parody of justice".

Mahmoud Abou Zeid, a photojournalist known as Shawkan who was detained for photographing the anti-government protests, was sentenced to five years in prison. Because he has been held since his arrest, time served will be counted toward his sentence and he is to be released. He faces five more years of probation, however.