Egyptian court sentences 96 activists to three years in prison

An Egyptian court yesterday sentenced 96 activists to three years in prison on charges of “violence and demonstrating”.

A legal source who preferred to remain unnamed told the Anadolu Agency that “the Zagazig Criminal Court in Al-Sharqiya sentenced 72 activists to three years in a maximum security prison and acquitted 10 others. They were sentenced on charges of committing violent and disruptive acts in the city of Zagazig and gathering and demonstrating without a legal permit.”

The source added that the court also ruled in a second case, “sentencing five other activists to three years in prison and acquitted 27 activists on charges of storming Al-Qareen Police Station and setting it on fire after the dispersal of a sit-in organised by supporters of the first democratically elected civilian president in Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, in Rabaa Al-Adawiya and Al-Nahda Squares on 14 August 2013.”

In a third case, the source said that “the same court sentenced 19 activists to three years in prison and acquitted seven others on charges of committing violent and disruptive acts in Abu Hammad, in Al-Sharqiya, and possession of Muslim Brotherhood and other pamphlets which incite against the state.”

The source noted that these rulings are preliminary and can be appealed.