DHAKA: More than 180 supporters of the banned Muslim Brotherhood have been sentenced to death in Egypt over a 2013 attack on a police station near Cairo.

The attack took place on the same day as Egyptian security forces broke up protest camps set up by Brotherhood supporters, leaving hundreds dead.

Egypt has been fiercely criticized for its crackdown on Islamist supporters of ousted president Mohammed Mursi.

Hundreds of death sentences have been passed but none have been carried out.

The latest sentences are subject to the opinion of Egypt’s top religious authority, the Grand Mufti.

A final verdict is due on 24 January, after which defendants may appeal.

More than 140 of the 188 defendants are already in custody, while the rest have been sentenced in absentia, reports the BBC.

BDST: 1240 HRS, DEC 03, 2014