World Bulletin / News Desk

Lawyers on Monday filed an appeal against a ruling by an Egyptian military court sentencing six supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi to three years in prison each for allegedly attacking army troops in the canal city of Suez earlier this year.

"We challenged the ruling at the military cassation court," defense team member Ashraf Tawfiq told Anadolu Agency. "We gave evidence that the convicts weren't involved in any wrongdoing."

Last month, a Suez military court sentenced the six men to three years in prison for allegedly attacking government facilities, blocking roads and fomenting chaos in the canal city.

The men were arrested following violence that engulfed the city after the violent dispersal in mid-August of two pro-democracy sit-ins in Cairo, in which hundreds of demonstrators were killed.

In September, a Suez military court slapped 64 Morsi supporters with jail terms of varying lengths – including one life sentence – for alleged involvement in earlier attacks on military personnel and churches.

Many of the defendants were members of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and the Gamaa Islamiya group in Suez.

Also in September, a military court sentenced three Brotherhood leaders in absentia to three years in prison each for "inciting violence."

Morsi – Egypt's first freely elected leader – was ousted by the country's powerful military establishment on July 3 following large demonstrations against his presidency.