Mahienour al-Massry, 9 others handed 2-year sentences

Leftist activist Mahienour al-Massry and nine others were sentenced to two years in prison on Monday for protesting in front of an Alexandria police station in 2013.

The defendants can pay an LE5,000 fine to suspend the sentence.

The defendants include Loay al-Qahwagy, who is already serving two years in prison for violating the Protest Law when she demonstrated outside a courthouse in October 2013 during the trial of two policemen accused of killing Khaled Saeed.

In this case, the protesters were arrested in March 2013 when they staged a sit-in at the Raml Police Station. They were protesting against reports that lawyers had been assaulted by police forces as they attended the interrogation of three activists held at the station.

Muslim Brotherhood members had arrested the three activists and handed them over to the police, accusing them of attempting to burn the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in Alexandria.

Massry and her fellow demonstrators were released the following day, and the case was referred to court in March 2014. The prosecution accused them of assaulting police officers, and storming and damaging the police station.

Massry was previously sentenced to prison last May after an appeals court upheld a two-year sentence levied against her for protesting against the Khaled Saeed trial alongside Qahwagy. Last July, her sentenced was reduced to six months and an LE50,000 fine.

In September, an Alexandria court suspended the sentence and ordered her release from prison.