An Egyptian court has given a suspended sentence to 21 army soldiers for participating in last year’s mass protests against the country's then military junta.

The Egyptian defense minister on Saturday ratified the court’s verdict, The Associated Press reported.

The group, known as the "April 8 officers," was found guilty of violating army protocol by joining the anti-junta demonstrations in April 2011.

The soldiers were arrested in a junta-led crackdown on thousands of protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square demanding ouster of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which took power in February 2011.

In January, the Egyptians launched a revolution against the pro-Israeli regime, which eventually brought an end to the 30-year dictatorship of former President Hosni Mubarak.

It was the first public protest by the soldiers against SCAF, which was accused by the revolutionaries of mismanaging the democratic transition and attempting to derail the popular revolution.


On August 12, Egypt’s new President Mohamed Morsi dismissed Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi and Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces Sami Anan from their posts and scrapped a constitutional document that handed the generals legislative and other powers.

Morsi appointed a new defense minister, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, and picked a senior judge, Mahmoud Mekki, as vice president.
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