Egypt upholds jail sentences of protest leaders

Defendants will appeal to higher court and African Court of Human and People’s Rights if necessary, lawyer says

Egyptian activists Ahmed Douma (R) and Ahmed Maher (L), the founder of the April 6 youth movement that led the revolt against ousted president Hosni Mubarak, react as they stand in the accused dock during their trial in the capital Cairo on April 7, 2014. (photo credit: AFP/Hassan Mohamed)
Egyptian activists Ahmed Douma (R) and Ahmed Maher (L), the founder of the April 6 youth movement that led the revolt against ousted president Hosni Mubarak, react as they stand in the accused dock during their trial in the capital Cairo on April 7, 2014. (photo credit: AFP/Hassan Mohamed)

CAIRO — An Egyptian appeals court on Monday upheld three-year prison sentences handed down to three prominent activists charged with violating a controversial law restricting protests.

The three, including the founder of the April 6 movement, Ahmed Maher, rose to prominence in the 2011 uprising that toppled veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak.

The interim government, in place after the army overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July, jailed them for violating a law it had passed banning all but police-sanctioned protests.

Ahmed Maher, Mohamed Adel and Ahmed Douma were charged with organizing an unauthorized and violent protest in November, days after the passage of the law.

The sentencing in December of the activists, part of a broad coalition of groups that supported Morsi’s ouster, had raised concerns of a return to Mubarak-era practices under the new military-installed regime.

Ex-army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who led the coup to overthrow Morsi, is running in elections next month. He has promised there would be “no return” to Mubarak’s era.

But secular leaning activists have increasingly been targeted in an extensive crackdown on the opposition that has seen an estimated 15,000 people jailed, but mostly focused on Islamists.

Another prominent left wing activist, Alaa Abdel Fattah, is standing trial on similar charges to those the trio faced.

Ahmed Seif, lawyer for Maher and his co-defendants, said they will appeal the ruling before the Court of Cassation and if that fails will take the case to the African Court of Human and People’s Rights.

“There are no indications that the state is willing to loosen its grip,” Seif told AFP after the ruling.

Critics say the government has given police a free hand to clamp down on dissent, amid a crackdown that has killed more than 1,400 people in street clashes since Morsi’s overthrow.

Courts have tried hundreds of Islamists en masse, with one court sentencing 529 to death for allegedly participating in a deadly riot. That sentencing is likely to be overturned on appeal.

Militants have also unleashed a deadly campaign on security forces that has killed nearly 500 policemen and soldiers in bombings and shootings since Morsi’s ouster.

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