Cairo, Nov 14 (IANS/AKI): An Egyptian court has sentenced 12 men who took part in protests in support of deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi to 17 years in prison, official news agency Mena reported Thursday.

Those convicted were all students from Cairo's prestigious Al-Azhar University, which came under attack during protests after the army deposed Morsi on July 3, Xinhua cited MENA as quoting a statement by Morsi's Islamist Muslim Brotherhood on its website.

The men were arrested after protesters in October tried to storm Al-Azhar's offices, which supported the military's overthrow of Morsi.

Over a thousand people, mainly Morsi supporters, have been killed in violence across Egypt since his ouster and thousands have been arrested, many of whom have been put on trial.

Morsi himself is being tried for inciting violence and the killings of protestors outside the presidential palace before he was removed from office.