A court in Minya, Egypt sentenced 529 Morsi supporters to death for attacking and killing police in a riot last summer.

The ruling came after two sessions in a court in Minya, Egypt. Of the 545 defendants in the case -- who were charged with murder, attempted murder and stealing government weapons -- 16 were acquitted. 

The charges followed an attack on a police station that killed an officer in August in Matay, Egypt. The attack occurred as a response to the hundreds killed when police stormed two pro-Morsi gatherings in Cairo last summer. 

"This is way over the top and unacceptable," said attorney Mohammed Zarie, who heads a rights center in Cairo, according to Fox News. "It turns the judiciary in Egypt from a tool for achieving justice to an instrument for taking revenge."

Rights activists say the court's verdict may likely be appealed and overturned. Read more here.