10 defendants sentenced to 3 years in prison for Tiran and Sanafir protests
Ten defendants were sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday for protesting the Egyptian government’s decision to hand over the two Red Sea islands Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia in April.
Bulaq Misdemeanor Court also fined each defendant LE100,000, the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) reported.
April 6 Youth Movement activist Hamdy Kamal (also known as Hamdy Qeshta) is among the defendants in the case, along with activist Merit Abdel Moula.
The court previously released the defendants with a LE1,000 fine pending investigations, with the exception of Qeshta, who was detained pending investigations into another case.
The defendants have been convicted of joining a terrorist organization trying to topple the government, spreading false information to disrupt the public order and inciting protests against state institutions.
Dozens of people arrested in relation to the Tiran and Sanafir protests received similar sentences that were later dropped, and were mandated to pay heavy fines instead.
In late May, a Giza court annulled a five-year prison sentence against 47 protesters and ruled that they should pay LE100,000 each, which was crowd-sourced in a strong donation campaign by rights activists.
On June 11, seven others were sentenced to eight years in prison and an LE500 fine for allegedly plotting terrorist operations, protesting without permission and spreading false information. Also in June, 51 people arrested in downtown protests were acquitted after they were sentenced to two years in prison for illegal protesting.
Several other defendants are still detained pending trial, including rights lawyers Malek Adly and Haytham Mohamadeen, journalists Amr Bard and Mahmoud al-Saqqa, as well as April 6 Youth Movement leader Zizo Abdo.
An administrative court ruled in June to invalidate the island transfer deal, followed by a government appeal before the Supreme Administrative Court, which is expected to issue a final ruling shortly.
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