Activists arrested RIGHTS lawyer Malek Adli and political activist Zizo Abdu were arrested by security forces in Maadi on 5 May. The prosecutor questioned Adli and ordered his detention for 15 days pending an investigation into charges that include attempting to overthrow the regime and inciting the 25 April protests. He is also being investigated on charges of spreading false news and harming national unity and societal peace. Adli has denied the charges. Adli was one of the more vocal supporters of recent protests against the transfer of sovereignty of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. The 25 April protests condemned the government's decision to recognise the two Red Sea islands, administered by Egypt, as belonging to Saudi Arabia. The decision has yet to be ratified by Egypt's parliament. Abdu was transferred from Maadi police station to Giza police station, according to the rights group Freedom for the Brave, and has yet to be questioned by a prosecutor. Hundreds were arrested in the lead-up to the protests and during the demonstrations. Protesting without a police permit is a crime in Egypt. Violators are often sentenced to jail terms. Morsi's verdict put off GIZA Criminal Court has referred six people to Egypt's Grand Mufti to advise on their death sentences in what is known as the Qatar espionage case. The six are Ahmed Afifi, Mohamed Kilati, Ahmed Ismail, Asmaa Al-Khatib, Alaa Slian and Ibrahim Helal. The court postponed the final ruling for the rest of the defendants, among them former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, to 18 June. Morsi and the other defendants are accused of leaking national security documents and information related to national security to Qatar during Morsi's presidency. In September 2014, then Prosecutor-General Hisham Barakat referred the defendants to criminal court on charges of illegally obtaining copies of intelligence and confidential reports on plans of the Armed Forces. They were also accused of intending to deliver the documents to the Qatari satellite network Al-Jazeera. Morsi received his first prison sentence for his involvement in deadly clashes near the presidential palace. He was sentenced to 20 years for inciting violence. He also received both a death sentence and a life sentence in the Hamas espionage trial and for breaking out of jail in January 2011. Band on the run THE PROSECUTION on Monday appealed the release of a member of a satirical performance art band on bail pending an investigation into charges of insulting state institutions and calling for protests. On Sunday, the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), an NGO, announced that Ezzeddin Khaled, the youngest member of Atfal Shawaree, or Street Children, was released on LE10,000 bail pending an investigation. Khaled was arrested on Saturday at his home. The prosecution accused the 19-year-old Ain Shams University student of inciting protests and “uploading videos insulting state institutions” before ordering his detention for four days. The remaining six members of the band are currently on the run, said band member Mohamed Adel on his official Facebook page. Atfal Shawaree gained huge popularity after uploading videos online shot in the street and mocking the rhetoric of the regime and its supporters by using famous patriotic songs.
