Egypt fires 41 pro-Morsi judges

Cairo (AFP) - An Egyptian disciplinary court forcibly retired 41 judges Saturday for supporting ousted president Mohamed Morsi, a judicial source said, amid a crackdown against both Islamist and secular opposition.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who overthrew Morsi in 2013, has pledged to eradicate the Islamist's once popular Muslim Brotherhood movement.

The court ruled that the judges were illegally involved in politics, the official said.

He added that the two verdicts can be appealed.

Thirty-one of the judges were accused of signing a political statement in solidarity with Morsi and reading it publicly at a protest camp of his supporters that the forcibly dispersed authorities on August 14, 2013.

Hundreds of protests and up to 10 policemen died in clashes during the dispersal.

Ten other were accused of founding a pro-Morsi group under the name of "Judges for Egypt".

The government blacklisted the Muslim Brotherhood as a "terrorist group" in December 2013, blaming it for militant attacks.

Sisi's secular opposition and icons of the 2011 uprising that ousted stronman Hosni Mubarak have also been targeted also suffering from the crackdown, with several jailed for illegal protests.