MOSCOW, June 4 (RAPSI) - An Egyptian court on Tuesday sentenced 43 people, including foreign citizens, in a case concerning the illegal financing of Egyptian NGOs by the US authorities during the 2011 Egyptian revolution, AFP reported on Tuesday.

Five defendants, including one US citizen, received a two-year sentence.

Another 11 people were sentenced to a one-year suspended sentence, and 27 people who were absent in court received a five-year sentence.

The trial over the illegal financial and political activities of 17 Egyptian and foreign non-governmental organizations started in February 2012.

The accused included 43 people, with some 30 foreigners including 19 US citizens, as well as German, Norwegian, Serbian, Palestinian and Jordanian citizens.

The investigation revealed that the NGOs operated in Egypt without any legal basis and received foreign financing in 2011, which could have been used for stirring unrest in Egypt early that year, as well as for organizing mass protests against the country's military authorities in the second half of 2011.

Members of these organizations have also been accused of collaborating with the US Embassy, which is also prohibited by law. In particular, the NGOs provided US diplomats with the results of opinion surveys conducted in Egypt.