13 Syrians sentenced to five years for protesting

Cairo Criminal Court sentenced 13 Syrians to five years in prison on Tuesday after judges found them guilty of “unlawful assembly.” They are accused of conducting a protest against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Cairo in February 2012.

Minor damages to the Syrian embassy in Cairo were reported during the protest.

According to media reports, they were also found guilty of “threatening national security,” along with “violently resisting authorities” and “destruction of public and private properties.”

Egyptian TV channels — both state-owned and private — ran news tickers on the verdict but provided few details.

According to the CNN’s Arabic website, the lawyer for the defendants, Osama Khalil, said that most of them were tried and sentenced in absentia, as they had left Egypt several weeks earlier and were not aware of ongoing criminal charges against them.

Al Jazeera (which has been banned from reporting in Egypt) reported on their website that Egyptian prosecutors had ordered the arrest and questioning of another seven Syrian refugee protesters on charges of “obstructing traffic” and “destruction of public and private properties.” This claim has not been confirmed by other media outlets.

According to a press release issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday, “Egyptian authorities have violated the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants from Syria, including both Syrian nationals and Palestinians who were living in Syria.”

HRW added that airport authorities have prevented at least 476 Syrians from entering Egypt, and have returned them to Syria in violation of international law.

HRW also mentioned that at least 72 Syrian men and nine boys were arrested at checkpoints in July 2013, around the time of the military-led ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. Security forces have accused many Syrians of being Muslim Brotherhood members or supporters.

From August to December, Egypt “arbitrarily detained” more than 1,500 Syrian refugees — including 250 children — who had sought to join illegal migrations to Europe. HRW claims that around 1,200 of these detained refugees were then forced to leave Egypt, while the majority of the remaining detainees have been released since December.

Citing the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, HRW reported that an additional 519 Syrian refugees were being detained in 102 police stations since June 3 of this year.