2 year prison sentence for doctor wearing Rabaa Al-Adawiya pin

An Egyptian doctor has been sentenced to two years in prison on charges of “inciting riots in hospital, belonging to a banned group and incitement hatred against the army” after she was found wearing a pin with the logo of the Rabaa Al-Adawiya, an Egyptian court ruled on Sunday.

Mit Ghamr misdemeanour court in the Dakahlia governorate made the ruling, which can be appealed, to imprison Mervat Galilah, chairman of the radiology department in Mit Ghamr public hospital, for two years after it convicted her in the case that is known in the media as “Rabaa pin”.

The case was initiated on January 28, 2014, when Galilah was arrested inside the radiology department after she wore a pin with the Rabaa logo inside the hospital. She was then referred to the public prosecutor who decided to jail her for 15 days while the investigations took place. Her husband accused hospital security, who are not affiliated to the Ministry of the Interior of assaulting, beating and cursing her prior to her arrest.

The prosecution accused the doctor of several charges including joining a banned group – the Muslim Brotherhood, participating in gatherings, disrupting the work of the hospital and talking with patients about politics.

Essam Azab, husband of the arrested doctor, told Anadolu agency, that, “the verdict was shocking to me, my wife and the lawyers who have been involved in the case. Despite the fact that all the testimonies of doctors, technicians and workers at the hospital were in favour of Galilah as they all emphasises that the charges against her are incorrect.”

He explained that they “have appealed the verdict and a hearing session has been scheduled for March 30.”

Azab denied that he and his wife belong to the Muslim Brotherhood, saying “for my wife wearing a Rabaa pin is something she did in recognition of one of our neighbours, Abdul Rahman, a doctor who died during the dispersal of the Rabaa Al-Adawiya sit-in on August 14, 2013.”