Shura Council case retrial set for July 22

The re-trial of 25 defendants sentenced to 15 years in absentia in the Shura Council case is scheduled for July 22, the Freedom to the Brave group announced Sunday.

Earlier this month, Cairo Criminal Court had sentenced activist Alaa Abd El Fattah and 24 others to 15 years jail in absentia, as well as a LE100,000 fine and five years' probation for violating the contentious Protest Law.

The ruling was seen as the most severe sentence handed down under the Protest Law to date, which was issued last November.

Three defendants – Alaa Abd El Fattah, Mohamed Noubi and Wael Metwally – were arrested from outside the court at the Tora Police Academy following the verdict, while the rest of the defendants were not detained. They immediately demanded a retrial.

The remaining 22 defendants also issued a statement later that week announcing that they would head to the prosecutor’s office to demand a re-trial.

Abd El Fattah, Noubi and Metwally were arrested as fugitives, even though they were outside the court waiting for permission to enter and attend the session.

The defendants were accused of organizing an unauthorized protest outside the Shura Council in Cairo, attacking a police officer, stealing a walkie-talkie, hooliganism, aggression against police officers, blocking roads, crowding a public place and the destruction of public property, state-owned website Ahram Gate reported.

They had staged a protest outside the Shura Council, Egypt’s parliamentary advisory body, in Cairo on November 26 to demonstrate against the law, which places severe restrictions on protesting and public assembly, as well as an article on military trials for civilians included in the 2014 Constitution.

Abd El Fattah’s younger sister, Sanaa, is among 23 defendants also currently facing trial for violating the Protest Law. She was arrested during a march to Ettehadiya Presidential Palace on June 21.