Rights groups decry use of Protest Law against activists

The April 6 Youth Movement has condemned what it calls “a campaign to delegitimize” the group through local media.

The statement, posted on the group’s official Facebook page late Sunday, follows the sentencing of the group’s leaders, Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel, to three years in prison. The two men, along with Ahmed Douma, were found guilty of crimes under the Protest Law. The three activists were also each fined LE50,000 by the Abdeen Misdemeanors Court.

“Accusing Maher and Adel of treason and falsely attributing calls and actions to them won’t help stabilize the country,” the statement read. “It’s unbelievable to be accused of treason. When we’re arrested, we’re accused of protesting, which we have never denied."

The group called for anyone who has evidence against the April 6 Youth Movement to present it to the Prosecutor General.

Throughout the 2011 revolution, the group was repeatedly accused by the government of having foreign connections. Supporters of the April 6 movement remained on the streets and in a protest mode, despite the retreat of many other activist groups.

Several human rights organizations condemned the ruling against the activists and questioned the due process behind it. In a statement released Monday, the groups compared the speedy ruling on the activists’ case with the slow legal process surrounding the killing of tens of protesters in clashes with police over the last three years. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and Nazra for Women Studies were among the groups that signed the statement.

The statement described the judiciary as an extension of the state’s security policies. “There can be no doubt that the ruling against the three activists is politicized and is an extension of security’s targeting of the three activists and others in a clear and deliberate fashion,” the statement read.

The statement also criticized the recently passed Protest Law, which it described as a tool used by the regime to harass peaceful protesters and political activists.

Also on Monday, the Muslim Brotherhood condemned the rulings against the activists. In a press release, Brotherhood leader Mohamed Ali Bishr said the rulings are “a direct consequence of the coup and counter-revolution forces seizing power, attempting to disrupt and undermine the path of democratic transformation, violating human rights, and trampling the will of the Egyptian people.”