The Maadi Misdemeanour Court Wednesday sentenced 12 protesters who were arrested in Maadi on the third anniversary of the 25 January Revolution to two years in prison and fined 8 more between EGP 50,000 and EGP 100,000.
The 12 who were sentenced to prison were also fined EGP 50,000, The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) reported. The court set a bail for the 12 at EGP 100,000.
The remaining eight of the group, which was protesting against both the Muslim Brotherhood and the prospect of military rule, were tried in absentia.
Five of them were fined EGP 50,000 and three female defendants, including Nazly Hussein, who is known for supporting and providing advocacy for detainees, were fined EGP 100,000. Members of AFTE will be talking to the defendants and their families before deciding how to proceed, the NGO’s dead of the media communications said.
The Maadi detainees are among 1,079 people who were arrested on the third anniversary of the 25 January Revolution while demonstrating against the interim government and, in some instances, clashing with security forces. Prosecution charged the Maadi detainees with assembling, protesting without a permit and show of force.
Several human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, have condemned the conditions of the detainees’ incarceration in recent weeks. The Ministry of Interior, however, denied torture allegations made by released detainees.
According to an independent count 103 people died on the revolution’s anniversary. The Ministry of Health’s official count on 25 January was 49.
