The Sayeda Zeinab Misdemeanor Court sentenced on Wednesday political activist Sanaa Seif to six months in prison in absentia on charges of insulting the judiciary.
Neither Seif nor her lawyers were present at the court session, despite knowing about it.
Seif decided not to attend the court session, but said she will not oppose or appeal any sentence ordered against her, and will follow it, according to a Facebook post.
She explained her decision by saying that she has lost the capability and power to deal with the judiciary system as she could no longer treat it as a fair system. She will accept the sentence despite knowing how hard life is in prison, having been imprisoned before.
Seif concluded her post by apologising to her lawyers for preventing them from helping her. She respects their role but she wants to relieve herself and them from facing this abuse from the justice system, her post read.
On 27 April Seif was referred to trial on 4 May for insulting a civil servant while he was on duty. She was released on EGP 300 bail at the time.
Seif was earlier investigated on 25 April on charges of passing out leaflets with another person, named Yasser Al-Qot. However, she was also released pending investigation.
In the investigative session that followed, Seif told the civil servant that the judiciary system has become an executive unit for the state’s demands which has led to the lawmakers themselves violating the law and the constitution.
Seif was previously detained in June 2014 with a group of activists who were demonstrating against the Protest Law outside Itihadeya Palace. The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced her to two years imprisonment and two further years of surveillance.
However, she was released in September after a 15-month imprisonment based on a customary presidential pardon granted to 100 prisoners on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha.
