The Dokki prosecution decided on Monday to suspend a case involving seven members of the 6 April Youth Movement in a case known as the ‘Dokki March’.
The seven were accused of organising a demonstration on 21 December 2015 that proceeded without the necessary permit.
According to the prosecution, the ‘Dokki March’ began on Tahrir Street in Dokki. The prosecution addressed official accusations against four of the members, including Mohamed Nabil, Sherif El-Roubi, Mahmoud Hesham, and Ayman Abdul Hamid.
The four, who were released following the case’s suspension, were accused of joining an illegal group that aims to break constitutional law, disturb public peace, and incite demonstrations without permits.
“There is no real legal case, all of us were under detention in a case that has no evidence and the investigations have been archived due to a shortage in evidence,” said El-Roubi, one of the defendants.
El-Roubi said the case depended only on narratives delivered by “secret investigation” authorities, adding that his lawyer questioned the judge about the identity of the “secret investigation” authority mentioned in the case, but no clarification was made.
“Demonstrating is a basic human right that should be guaranteed to all Egyptians, we did not commit a crime,” said El-Roubi. “The current regime is practicing oppression against political activists, and this will only generate more terrorists.”
The prosecution’s investigations also released the other three defendants in the case, who had been accused of holding a demonstration in Dokki that insulted the army and police forces and incited citizens to demonstrate against the Egyptian regime.
The 6 April Youth Movement played an important role in the 25 of January Revolution and has faced a massive crackdown from Egyptian government after being legally banned by a court verdict in 2014.
On 20 March, a Maadi misdemeanour court upheld a six-month prison sentence for 6 April Youth Movement founders Mohamed Adel and Ahmed Maher, along with activist Ahmed Douma.
The court rejected the appeal submitted by the activists, in which they denied the prosecution’s accusation of “verbally assaulting a public officer while on duty”.
Douma is serving a 31-year sentence for charges that include attacking the cabinet building and security personnel, burning the Scientific Institute in Cairo in 2011, illegal protesting, insulting the judiciary, and rioting.
An Al-Marg misdemeanour court also sentenced 6 April Youth Movement leader Amr Ali to three years in prison for charges which include inciting riots and unlicensed protesting.
Three other defendants were sentenced to the same verdict, though in absentia. All the defendants were also accused of joining an illegal group and resisting authorities
Ali, the general coordinator of the opposition movement, was arrested in September in his hometown of Ashmoun in Manufiya, in what was then considered to be a forced disappearance case until he was located at Tora prison after being interrogated without a lawyer present.
The 6 April Youth Movement is an opposition group that was established in 2008 to support Egyptian workers who launched a sit-in in El Mahela-El Kobra, an industrial city located in Al-Gharbyia governorate.
