Eleven “youth” from Egypt’s Beheira governorate received 15-year prison sentences on Thursday, according to Freedom for the Brave, an initiative that provides support for detainees.
According to the initiative, the group of young men were sitting in a house having their Ramadan sohour meal when security forces raided the house and arrested them on 4 July 2014.
The young men are accused of belonging to a terrorist organisation, possessing fire games, instilling fear in the lives of citizens, creating chaos in the streets, and preventing police from doing their work.
In addition, they are accused of cutting roads with tires, possessing Molotov cocktails, and setting fire to a tourist company.
According to local and international rights groups, arbitrary detentions have spiked over the past year and a half in Egypt. Detention, abuse, and death, are daily occurances in Egyptian prisons, accordingto groups’ reports.
El Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Torture Victims also released a report in March documenting 82 cases of death and severe physical abuse in detentions in February alone.
