Egypt’s most prominent activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah
An Egyptian court sentenced an icon of the country’s 2011 revolt to five years in prison yesterday, showing authorities’ determination to continue to stifle dissent despite promises by its president to release “wrongly jailed youths.”
The verdict came in the retrial of well-known activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah, who earlier received a 15-year prison sentence for organizing an unauthorized protest and allegedly assaulting a police officer.
The courtroom erupted after the verdict, with those in the gallery shouting: “Down with oppression!” One man collapsed as Abdel-Fattah’s family and friends wept and screamed: “Down with military rule!” Police ultimately ordered everyone to clear the courtroom.
Defense lawyer Mohammed Abdel-Aziz decried the verdict as “harsh and oppressive.”
The court “didn’t take into consideration any of the evidence that showed the defendants’ innocence,” he said.
Another rights lawyer on hand, Taher Abou el-Nasr, said: “Regrettably, the verdict was expected. We no longer expect acquittal.”
Lawyers said they will appeal the ruling to Egypt’s Court of Cassation, the country’s highest appeals court.
An outspoken blogger, Abdel-Fattah has been in and out of prison in the years since the 2011 ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak. He campaigned against military trials for civilians during the 17 months that generals held power following Mubarak’s resignation. He also opposed Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, whom the military overthrew in 2013.
The charges against him stem largely from a law prohibiting protests in Egypt without prior government permission, a measure that came after Morsi’s overthrow. Activists and rights groups have criticized the law as a way to stifle all dissent.
Abdel-Fattah was accused of inciting an “unauthorized” demonstration on Nov. 26, 2013, against a clause allowing military trials for civilians in the draft of a new constitution, which was later adopted by referendum.
Earlier, Mona Seif, Abdel-Fattah’s sister and one of the organizers of the Nov. 26 protest, said her brother attended the demonstration but denied he had organized it, saying it was called for by a group that campaigns against military trials for civilians. Hamza Hendawi, Cairo , AP
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