An Egyptian court on Sunday acquitted 112 supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi who had been previously convicted of causing riots and violence in the Almouski quarter of downtown Cairo, a judicial source told Anadolu news agency.
The source said that the Court of Misdemeanours in Almouski, held at the police institute in Torah in the south of the capital, accepted the appeal plea of the 112 defendants against the guilty verdict and sentencing of one year incarceration with hard labour. The case against the defendants occurred about nine months ago on the third anniversary of the 25 January 2011 revolution. All those involved have now been acquitted in the case.
On 9 June last year, the court decided to convict the 112 defendants, after being accused of holding a public gathering, violating the law on demonstrations, rioting and incitement to violence and banditry, assault on public and private property and attacking policemen.
In light of the successful appeal, another judicial source said, “The authorities should free those acquitted immediately.” He further pointed out that “the prosecution has the right to appeal against the latest judgment within 60 days and if the appeal is accepted, they will re-stand trial before the Court of Misdemeanours.”
In another case, the Court of Misdemeanours in Al-Waili, in downtown Cairo, ruled on Sunday in favour of imprisoning 12 students from Ain Shams University in the east of Cairo, including two girls, for fours years and fining them 100,000 pounds ($14,000 approximately) on charges of “demonstrating without a permit, causing a riot and crowding, damaging public and private property and joining a banned group last March”.
This judgment is also subject to appeal before the higher courts.
Meanwhile, the Minya Criminal Court in central Egypt ruled to uphold a verdict sentencing two of Morsi’s supporters in the cities of Bani Mazar and Minya to prison for 20 years as well as a fine of up to 300,000 pounds ($43,000 approximately) on charges of demonstrating and gathering after the August 2013 violent dispersal of the Rabaa and Al-Nahda sit-ins in Cairo.
The same court has postponed until February of next year the re-trial of three others in so-called riots in Al-Adwa city.
The attempted retrial of the five defendants is based on the fact that the previous sentences were issued against them in absentia before they had been arrested.