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Egyptian Court Jails Prominent Activist For Five Years

An Egyptian court has sentenced a leading activist, Alaa Abdel Fattah, to five years in jail, for violating limits on demonstrations, which is one of the … Continue reading Egyptian Court Jails Prominent Activist For Five Years


Activist Alaa Abdel Fattah speaks in front of a judge at an Egyptian Court during his trialAn Egyptian court has sentenced a leading activist, Alaa Abdel Fattah, to five years in jail, for violating limits on demonstrations, which is one of the toughest crackdowns on dissent in Egypt’s history.

After the verdict was read out on Monday, chants of “Down, down with military rule!” rang out from supporters of the activist, crowded into the courtroom.

Abdel Fattah, a blogger and software developer, was a leading secular figure in the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

He was originally sentenced in absentia to 15 years in jail, along with 24 others, before a retrial was ordered.

He is one of the several activists to have been jailed since the army overthrew Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, in mid-2013 and launched a crackdown not only on his Muslim Brotherhood, but also on secular democracy activists.

Laila Seif, Abdel Fattah’s mother, said she hopes her son would draw on the strength that helped his father, Ahmed Seif El-Islam Hamad, a human rights lawyer, through a five-year sentence under Mubarak.

One other defendant, Ahmed Abdulrahman, also received five years in jail, 18 accused received three years and others who were tried in absentia were given 15 years but Abdulrahman’s lawyer said his client would appeal.

The same court also adjourned to March 8, the trial of two Al Jazeera television journalists charged with aiding a terrorist organization – a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood.