A 27-year-old American citizen, who graduated from Ohio State University in 2012, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in Egypt for supporting an Islamist protest against the military ouster of President Mohamed Mursi. 

Egyptian judge Mohamed Nagy Shehata sentenced Mohamed Soltan and more than 35 others in the case to life imprisonment while his father, Salah Soltan, was sentenced to death together with about a dozen defendants.

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Among those whose death penalty had been confirmed by the Egyptian court was Mohamed Badie, 71, the top spiritual guide of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad el-Haddad was also meted the life sentence in the same case while thousand more remain imprisoned without convictions.

Soltan was the only American during the sentencing. He was raised in the Midwest by Egyptian immigrant parents and found a job at a petroleum services company in Cairo.

The verdict is the latest in a long series of similarly harsh sentences handed down at mass trials of hundreds of defendants accused of participating in the violent protest the occurred after the military ousted Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Critics said the Egyptian court has been too harsh on groups oppose to the current government and judges have been handing out death penalties "like a joke".

In a statement issued following the sentencing, members of the Soltan family said they will appeal the decision. Families of those convicted also said they will appeal the decision of Shehata.

The United States Embassy in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, also issued a statement saying it will continue to closely monitor the case.

"We remain gravely concerned about Mohamed Soltan and the outcome of his legal case. We will continue to monitor his case closely and to provide him with all possible support. His health and well-being remain of particular concern and a top priority to us," the embassy statement said.

TagsEgypt, Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Soltan