Egypt opposition media figures sentenced to life in absentia

The first terrorism circuit of the Cairo Criminal Court sentenced a group of Egyptian opposition media figures to life imprisonment in absentia, in the case known as the Media Committee.

The case includes prominent figures such as Moataz Matar, Hamza Zobaa, Mohamed Nasser, Abdullah Al-Sharif, Al-Sayed Tawakul, Abdel Rahman Zaghloul, Jalal Jibril, Mosaab Abdel Hamid, Mohamed Al-Khatib and Yasser Al-Hawari.

It forms part of the broader campaign launched by the Egyptian regime against opponents of the military coup that overthrew the late President Mohamed Morsi on 3 July 2013.

In addition to the life sentences, the defendants were placed on the terrorist list, which includes the Muslim Brotherhood and its central media cell, inside and outside the country. The court also issued a decision to dissolve the media committee and imposed police surveillance on the defendants for five years after the end of the sentence.

Seven other defendants were issued sentences of 15 years of hard labour and were ordered to pay expenses.

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