(AFP PHOTO/STR)
Alaa Abdel Fattah, Wael Metwalli and Hamada Al-Nubi were released on an EGP 5,000 bail during a hearing at the Cairo Criminal Court Monday. The judge presiding over their Shura Council trial issued a verdict of releasing, before recusing himself from the case.
Abdel Fattah and 24 other defendants were sentenced in absentia in June to 15 years, handed a EGP 100,000 fine and put under surveillance for a period of five years. They were found guilty of violating the Protest Law issued by former president Adly Mansour in November 2013, after protesting outside the Shura Council.
Out of the 25 defendants, Abdel Fattah, Metwalli, Al-Nubi were held in custody.
The defendants were also charged with demonstrating against military trials for civilians outside the Shura Council, acquiring weapons during the protest, illegal assembly, and attacking a police officer and stealing his radio.
The defendants in the case currently not in prison started an open-ended hunger strike in early September in solidarity with their fellows in custody. They also called for the abolishment of the Protest Law and the release of all political detainees.
According to Mamdouh Gamal, one of the defendants in the case, Abdel Fattah, Metwalli and Al-Nubi remain on hunger strike until the controversial Protest Law is abolished. He added that “we have a plan of escalation” until all the political detainees are released and law is cancelled.
