Political activist Sanaa Seif is expected to be released from prison on Tuesday evening following completion of her six-month prison sentence, according to her lawyer, Ahmed Abdel Naby. Seif was sentenced in May on accusations that she had insulted the Egyptian judiciary.
Abdel Naby said that the activist will be released from Sayeda Zeinab prison, where she in May handed herself in to serve the prison sentence. He added that she is expected to be released from prison after undergoing the final procedure before her release, which is being referred to the investigation bureau to check whether Seif is facing any other sentences and to confirm the validity of the release.
The accusation was leveled against Seif during an investigative session on 4 May, after she told a civil servant that the judiciary system has become an executive unit for the state’s demands, which has led to lawmakers violating the law and the Constitution. This statement was used against her, leading to her imprisonment.
Seif faced the charge of insulting the judiciary despite being released a few days prior by the prosecution in another case.
The other case included facing charges of inciting protests through distributing illegal documents in the Moqattam area against the Red Sea islands demarcation deal signed to transfer sovereignty of Tiran and Sanafir over to Saudi Arabia.
The agreement was signed between President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi and Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz during the latter’s visit to Egypt in March. It has since sparked widespread discontent among both pro- and anti-government factions in the country, leading to a number of arrests.
Seif was previously detained in June 2014 with a group of activists who were demonstrating against the Protest Law outside Itihadiya 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.
