111 Egyptian protesters sentenced to imprisonment for protesting and inciting violence

On Tuesday, several Egyptian courts sentenced 111 Egyptian protestors to prison for periods ranging from two to 18 years on charges of demonstrating, rioting and inciting violence and murder, according to judicial sources.

The prosecution accused the prisoners of participating in acts of murder and violence, disrupting crowds in Tahrir Square, damaging public property and resisting the authorities- charges denied by all defendants.

The verdicts are in accordance with Egyptian law and are subject to appeal before the Supreme Court.

According to a judicial source, the misdemeanours court in downtown Cairo ruled in favour of imprisoning nine activists from the April 6 movement (the opposition movement against the current government) for protesting without a permit over a period of two years.

The same court also sentenced 15 defendants to prison for their involvement in clashes with the police during the second anniversary of the Mohammad Mahmoud Street protests. They were sentenced to 3 years for protesting without a permit.

The anti-protest law, ratified last November, has been heavily criticised by many human rights organisations. The law has allowed the authorities to arrest several human rights activists on the charge of organising protests without a permit. Many activists have begun hunger strikes in opposition to the law.

Judicial sources say that the Cairo Criminal Court also sentenced 63 opposition members to 15 years in prison and five others to ten years in prison. The police will monitor all defendants for a period of five years after their release from prison.

A group known as “Students against the Coup” stated that 22 of its members, three of them women, have been sentenced to prison and fines. They have declared the ruling against them as “unjust”.

In a statement issued to the news agency Anadolu, it was declared: “the court has issued the following verdict without considering their legality or the future of the students involved.”

According to judicial sources, all defendants have been charged with a fine of 20 thousand pounds (2860 thousand dollars). They noted that this charge is pending on 64 defendants in addition to four other girls who are undergoing a trial in absentia.

On Tuesday, the Minya court also sentenced 18 supporters of the deposed president Mohamed Morsi to 18 years in prison and a fine of 125 thousand pounds. Each defendant was accused of five charges including the disruption of the constitutional referendum last January. The court also sentenced another man to five years and six months in prison for joining an illegal group (the Muslim Brotherhood) and for calling a boycott to the constitutional referendum in Minya.

Since the July 2013 ousting of democratically elected Morsi, the Egyptian authorities have accused the group’s leadership of “inciting violence and terrorism”. Yet, the Brotherhood insists that it advocates for a peaceful approach and that the numerous arrests and convictions that have occurred are the result of what it considers “a military coup against President Morsi”.