An appeal in the verdict which sentenced 21 young Muslim Brotherhood (MB) girls to exceptionally long jail terms on charges of thuggery and assembly will be heard next Saturday. The Alexandria Court of Appeals agreed to review the sentences issued last Thursday by the Alexandria Misdemeanour Court. The girls were arrested on 31 October during a pro-Mohamed Morsi protest in the coastal city of Alexandria. The first-degree court sentenced the girls, who are supporters of the MB, to jail for impeding traffic and damaging public property, as well as possessing weapons and using violence while protesting. Fourteen of them were sentenced to 11 years and one month in prison — six years for sabotage, four years for rioting and thuggery, one month for assembly and one year for possession of weapons. The remaining seven girls, who are under the age of 18, have been sent to a juvenile delinquency detention centre. At the age of 18, they will go to jail along with adult convicts. The girls, who are members of the 7am Movement, were protesting against the toppling of former president Morsi in the district of Roshdi in Alexandria. After the court ruling, the movement gained wide fame. Several organisations including the National Council for Motherhood and Childhood (NCMC), the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), and the Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary Centre condemned the verdict as being too harsh. The NCMC declared its full support for the 21 girls and considered the verdict “a great violation of womens' right in holding peaceful protests”. Azza Al-Ashmawi, secretary-general of the NCMC, said the council had sent a petition to the general prosecution in Alexandria to allow sociologists and psychologists of the council's hotline to meet with the girls to check on their emotional and physical state. “This request is in accordance with Article 116 of the child law. The girls should have never been arrested. They must be immediately and unconditionally released,” said Al-Ashmawi. The organisations issued a joint statement condemning the arrests. According to a press release, the verdict should warn Egyptians against the consequences of “constantly subjecting the judiciary to pressure by governmental authorities to best serve their needs. The country is in dire need of ending the use of the judiciary as a political tool and a weapon against the government's political opponents,” the statement read. The press statement said that since Morsi's ouster on 3 July, the authorities have been suppressing people's freedom of expression as well as using the law to serve the government's needs, not the people's. “The ruling authorities have been violating people's rights and freedoms as well as bolstering the police state which prevailed in Egypt before the 25 January Revolution,” the statement said. “I fear these harsh prison sentences against young women and girls might be a clear sign that there will be no limit to the authorities' efforts to crush opposition. Accordingly, no one will be safe from their iron fist,” said Al-Ashmawi, while adding that the verdict might turn minors into criminals “as it will destroy their future”. All of them are students, either at schools or universities. Lawyer Mahmoud Gaber, who is a member of the girls' defence team which appealed the verdict, said the prosecution is accusing the girls of scratching a glass door with their weapons “which were a bunch of rocks. If misdemeanour courts pass such severe penalties, what is left then for criminal courts?” wondered Gaber. Nasser Amin, head of the Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and who is also a member of the National Council for Human Rights, condemned the ruling. “The ruling was extremely cruel. What did those girls do to deserve such a verdict?” Amin was confident the ruling will be appealed due to its harshness. “I believe the girls will be discharged after being re-tried, or fined, but they won't be sentenced to jail. They are just young girls,” argued Amin. Amin believes the ruling was politicised. “The government is now arresting and accusing anyone who belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood, exactly as Morsi did with his opponents. During the reign of Morsi, all those who belonged to the regime which preceded him were also tried. Same old story; nothing will change,” said Amin. Amin warned that such harsh verdicts might raise concerns over the future of justice in Egypt. At the same time, ANHRI issued a statement condemning the ruling. “The verdict is proof that nothing has changed in the country despite two revolutions. The court ruling is just part of the governmental series showing the power of oppressiveness of the ruling regime. The ruling is verifying that the government and police forces are aiming to tighten their grip over the country. The regime wants to rule people with iron and fire,” the statement said. Sekina Fouad, consultant to interim President Adli Mansour for women and family affairs, announced that the president had promised to “take measures which he deems proper” after a final ruling. Talking to the CBC satellite channel on Friday, Fouad declined to discuss the possibility of issuing a presidential pardon, noting that such a measure could not be defined at present.
