ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — A court in Ivory Coast has sentenced 26 opposition protesters to 36 months in prison, a lawyer for the opposition party said Friday.

The protesters were part of a large demonstration against the exclusion of opposition candidates from the forthcoming election, a rally that resulted in the arrest of at least 237 people.

“The first trials of those arrested during the Oct. 11 demonstrations have resulted in heavy sentences," Jean-Chrysostome Blessy, executive secretary of the opposition party PDCI-RDA, said in a statement.

Blessy did not reveal the charges that were filed against the protesters. Meanwhile, he said, hundreds of other detainees are awaiting trials, which are scheduled to continue on Oct. 22.

The West African nation is set to go to the polls on Oct. 25

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