Egypt Regime appeals court reduces activists’ jail sentences

An Egyptian court has decided to reduce the jail sentences of 23 young activists who had been found guilty of taking part in an unauthorized demonstration.

Defense lawyer, Ragia Omran, said on Sunday that an Egyptian appeals court had decreased the jail sentences from three years to two.

The activists were accused of holding an illegal demonstration in the capital, Cairo, on June 21, calling for the release of political prisoners and the annulment of an anti-protest law that bans demonstrations without permissions.

The 23 were also accused of vandalism during the protest.

Each must pay a fine of 10,000 Egyptian pounds (1,400 US dollars) when they are released. They will be placed under police investigation for two years.

Defense attorney, Khalid Ali, criticized the verdicts as “harsh” and “unfair,” saying that the 23 would have been acquitted “if their fathers were generals.”

Under the anti-protest law, any demonstrator taking part in an unauthorized protest faces harsh prison penalties, which reach 15 years in a number of cases.

Egypt has been the scene of massive anti-government protests with continuous clashes between security forces and the supporters of the first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, since his ouster by the military in July 2013.

Rights groups say the army’s crackdown on the supporters of Morsi has left over 1,400 people dead. Some 22,000 others have been also arrested, while some 200 people have been sentenced to death in mass trials.