As Egypt’s new president prepares to be sworn in, a court has sentenced 10 supporters of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to death in absentia.

Senior members of the group in the court on Saturday were told that they would have to wait to hear their fate after sentencing on 38 defendants was postponed.

Assumed to be in hiding, those given the death penalty were convicted on charges including inciting violence during protests after the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi last July.

Separately, an appeals court in Cairo overturned sentences given to four police officers over the deaths of 37 supposedly Islamist detainees.

Sunday will see the inauguration of the main man behind Mursi’s overthrow, ex-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the landslide winner of last month’s presidential elections.

While Western governments have voiced concern about democracy and human rights in Egypt, Sisi’s supporters believe a strong, military-backed government will put an end to political instability.