Seventy-one Egyptians will be spending the rest of their lives in prison in connection with the torching of a Christian church in the Giza province town of Kafr Hakim.

The Virgin Mary Church had been looted by a Muslim mob and then burned to the ground while the crowd chanted for Egypt to become an Islamic state.  The church was one of 42 churches and Christian businesses that were targeted in August 2013 by the Islamists.

Two minors were given sentences of 10 years in prison and $1,300 in fines.

Most of the defendants were convicted in absentia.  Of the 73 convicted, 21 were already in prison on other charges and will now be sent to a prison for their life sentences.

The mob was believed at the time to be connected to the Muslim Brotherhood that backed the deposed President Mohammed Morsi.  Morsi was imprisoned for 20 years in connection with this leadership on acts of violence by the Brotherhood during his time in office.

Defense lawyers claim no evidence presented proved those convicted were seen in the area of the church.  They attacked the judge claiming he was overseeing an unfair trial.  The same judge had previously sentenced 183 Muslim Brotherhood members to death for their part in the killing of 13 police officers on the same day as the church attack.