Egypt court upholds ruling acquitting 51 protesters over Red Sea islands' handover to Saudi Arabia

An Egyptian court upheld on Sunday a previous ruling acquitting 51 defendants tried on a charge of protesting without prior permission from the interior ministry over the Egyptian government’s controversial handover of two Red Sea islands to Saudi sovereignty, two sources said.

A judicial source, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, told Anadolu Agency on Sunday that a Cairo misdemeanor appeals court rejected an appeal that had been filed by the prosecution against the acquittal of 51 defendants who were tried over the protests that took place in Cairo in April after the Egyptian government signed a maritime border demarcation agreement stipulating the transfer of the Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi control.

On 24 July, the prosecution appealed the court ruling that acquitted the defendants, who were nonetheless freed from jail.

Yasser Sayed Ahmed, one of the acquitted defendants’ lawyers, told Anadolu Agency, “The ruling issued today is final and it may not be appealed.”

The prosecution had accused the 51 defendants of a strain of charges, including “violating the protest law,” which bans protesting without obtaining permission from security authorities, and “attempting to overthrow the ruling regime.”

Since the Saudi-Egyptian demarcation agreement was signed in April, Egypt’s first-degree courts have seen a string of cases in which alleged protesters who objected to the handover of the two Red Sea islands were tried. In most court cases, defendants were acquitted or fined, and no final prison sentences have been issued in this regard.

Egypt’s contentious protest law sets prison sentences of between two and five years and a fine of 50,000-100,000 Egyptian Pounds ($1 = 16.87 Egyptian pound) for those who breach it. Since it was issued in 2013 by Egypt’s then interim president, the law  has sparked an outcry from Egyptian and international human rights organisations and activists who argue that the law in effect bans protests. At least tens of Egyptian youth, such as prominent activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, have served prison sentences for allegedly violating the protest law.