Eleven members of 7 am movement arrested

Eleven members of the 7 am movement were arrested Sunday as they staged protests in Cairo, according to a statement released by the Interior Ministry.

The statement said the protesters attempted to block traffic in several areas in Heliopolis and vandalized several traffic lights, prompting security forces to disperse the protest using tear gas and water cannons.  

Last week, an Alexandria misdemeanors court sentenced 21 women and girls from the 7 am movement to prison sentences ranging from 11 to 15 years for assembling on a street in Alexandria where they blocked traffic and threw stones at passersby, resulting in damage to the entrance of a residential building and endangering human life.

The sentence triggered a wave of condemnation by political forces and rights groups.

In a statement on the 7 am Facebook page, the group “condemned in the strongest terms the court's verdict,” saying it is a violation of the right to protest and freedom of expression. The group further described the verdict and the trial of the girls as a "shame on those supporting the coup."

In the statement, the group vowed an escalation in protest action in the coming days that “will not fall outside the context of peacefulness.”

7 am is a youth movement launched late last month in protest against what members call the military coup that ousted former President Mohamed Morsi on July 3. The movement is peaceful and was launched in Alexandria, with plans to spread to the rest of Egypt’s governorates, according to the group’s Facebook page.