Egypt’s former president Mohamed Morsi has been sentenced to 20 years in prison over the killing of demonstrators outside his palace in 2012, the first verdict to be issued against the country’s first freely elected leader.

An Egyptian court on Tuesday sentenced ousted President Mohamed Morsi to 20 year in jail on violence-related charges.

Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, was found guilty of inciting the murder of demonstrators outside Cairo’s Ittihadiya presidential palace in 2012.

According to Anadolu Agency, Tuesday’s verdict was the first against Morsi since his ouster and imprisonment by the army in mid-2013. Since then, he has been slapped with numerous criminal charges, which he and his supporters insist are politically motivated.

Although a total of 11 people – including eight Morsi supporters – were killed in the violence, the trial only addresses the death of one reporter and two anti-Morsi demonstrators.

Morsi was ousted by the military in July of 2013 – after only one year in office – following protests against his presidency.

Since Morsi’s ouster, Egyptian authorities have launched a relentless crackdown on dissent that has largely targeted Morsi’s Islamist supporters, leaving hundreds dead and thousands behind bars.

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