CAIRO, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian court on Tuesday sentenced 20 people to 10 years in prison for burning a church, official news agency MENA reported.

The convicted were also accused of illegal gathering, violence, attempted murder and possession of unlicensed weapons.

Investigations show they broke into the church, threw Molotov cocktails inside and prevented people from putting out the fire.

The incident came after a government crackdown over two major sit-ins of supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi in August 2013.

After the army-led removal of Morsi in response to mass protests against his one-year rule, violence started to spread nationwide.

Thousands of group loyalists of Morsi and his currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood were detained, with some convicted of death over murder and terror activities.