CAIRO: An Egyptian court sentenced 40 backers of ousted president Muhammad Mursi to up to 15 years in jail Thursday for violence including torching churches, a judicial source said.

The criminal court in Assiut in southern Egypt sentenced two defendants to 15 years each, while the others were given jail terms ranging from one year to 10, the source said.

They were accused of taking part in acts of violence in Assiut last year during which five churches, several police stations and a number of shops were set on fire. There were no reported casualties. The court acquitted 61 others standing trial in the same case.

Violent clashes erupted across Egypt on Aug. 14, 2013, as news spread across the country of a violent dispersal by the police and army of two protest camps in Cairo set up by Mursi supporters.

Dozens of churches and church properties were attacked across Egypt after the bloodshed, in response to perceived Coptic Christian support for Mursi’s ouster.

Followers of Mursi have been the target of a relentless crackdown by the authorities since he was deposed in July 2013.

The crackdown since then has left at least 1,400 people dead and more than 15,000 imprisoned.