Plain-clothes riot policemen detain a student supporter (C) of the Muslim Brotherhood and ousted President Mohamed Mursi, after clashes broke out during a demonstration outside Cairo University, in thi May 14, 2014 photo.

CAIRO: An Egyptian judge convicted 12 people Wednesday of murdering one of the most senior police officers to be killed in the country in recent months, sentencing them to death.

The ruling session was aired live on Egyptian television. As soon as judge Moataz Khafagi read out the sentence, the defendants broke out in chants of “God is great” in defiance while pacing around the cage. Only nine defendants were present, with the others were sentenced in absentia.

Gen. Nabil Farrag was shot dead in September during a raid on an area in Kerdasa, just outside of Cairo. The raid followed an attack by militants on a police station, killing 15 policemen and mutilating their bodies, in one of the grisliest assaults on security forces.

The militants had taken control of the town, near the Pyramids, and attacked the police station to apparently avenge a violent crackdown on a sit-in of supporters of ousted President Muhammad Mursi. The break-up of the sit-in killed hundreds. The trial had opened in March.

Defendants then can appeal.