The Dokki and Agouza Misdemeanour Court sentenced on Saturday 101 defendants, who were arrested in Cairo during anti-government demonstrations on 25 April, to five years in prison over illegal protesting while 79 of them were also fined EGP 100,000.
After only 19 days and a final session which saw around six hours of arguments between lawyers, the verdict was issued to follow an earlier verdict issued on Saturday by the Qasr Al-Nil Misdemeanour Court which sentenced 51 similar defendants to two years in prison.
Fifty-four of the 101 defendants were previously released pending trial. The Saturday ruling is a contestable first-degree verdict.
The defendants who were sentenced to prison on Saturday are three of four groups of defendants, separately tried according to the place and time they were arrested. One further group of 52 protesters is still pending trial.
The nationwide 25 April protests that objected to the maritime demarcation agreement that would see the transfer of sovereignty of Sanafir and Tiran islands to Saudi Arabia were met with a strong security response and were followed by the arbitrary arrest of bystanders without any investigation, according to numerous testimonies.
