On Sunday Cairo Criminal Court ordered the release of prominent blogger and radical activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah, and of Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, after they had spent nearly four months in prison. The release order was issued at the long delayed opening session of Abdel-Fattah's trial. Together with his 24 co-defendants, Abdel-Fattah was arrested on 27 November after taking part in a demonstration in front of the Shura Council in downtown Cairo to protest an article in the constitution — finally approved on 18 January — allowing civilians to be tried by military courts. The peaceful protest was the first to be held after government approval of a controversial protest law which requires protest organisers to seek the approval of the Interior Ministry, furnishing security officials with the purpose, route, slogans to be raised and the number of participants of any demonstration. Human rights groups, the Lawyers' Syndicate and several political parties have lambasted the protest law which allows organisers of unauthorised protests to be imprisoned for up to five years and subjects them to hefty financial penalties. It gives the Interior Ministry the authority to reject protest requests on the vague grounds they represent a “threat to security”. Though officials initially claimed the law was aimed at deterring daily demonstrations by members of the Muslim Brotherhood it soon became apparent secular revolutionaries were also targets. Youth activists who took part in the 25 January Revolution that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak and later participated in the 30 June Revolution against Mohamed Morsi were the first to be prosecuted under the new law. More than 100 members of parties that belong to the National Salvation Front which spearheaded opposition to Morsi are currently in detention. They include activists from the Dostour Party and Egyptian Social Democratic Parties, presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi's Popular Trend and the Popular Socialist Alliance. Members of radical youth groups, including 6 April Movement and the Revolutionary Socialists, have also been detained. Of those arrested on 27 November only Abdel-Fattah and Abdel-Rahman were held for more than a few days. Their co-defendants were quickly released on bail. Dozens of activists arrested during the same protest were not even referred to trial. They include 10 women who, after being held for several hours in a police station were then dumped on a desert road. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are among the many human rights organisations to criticise the manner in which Abdel-Fattah spent four months in prison without a date being set for his trial. Abdel-Fattah was also the only defendant in the case arrested at home, hours after the demonstration in front of the Shura Council had been violently dispersed. He claimed when he asked the police force whether they had a permit to search his house he was badly beaten, his wife roughed up and his computer and other personal belonging seized. Abdel-Fattah was accused of organising the protest, a charge that carries a possible five-year sentence. Together with Abdel-Rahman he was also accused of attacking a police officer and stealing his walkie-talkie. The well-known group, No to Military Trials of Civilians, formed by Abdel-Fattah's sister Mona Seif, had called for the demonstration on 27 November. Abdel-Fattah's colleagues and supporters in court cheered loudly as the judge announced his decision to release all defendants and to resume the trial on 6 April. Abdel-Fattah and Abdel-Rahman were ordered to pay LE10000 bail and to appear with other defendants in the next court session. “This is a step in the right direction,” says Abdel-Fattah's father, veteran human rights activist Ahmed Seif. His mother, Laila Sweif, also a well-known activist, was joyful but said she would not believe the ruling until she held her son's hands. Nearly 100 of Abdel-Fattah supporters, his family and lawyers, waited until Sunday night in front of Cairo Police Department in Bab Al-Khalq for his release and gave him a hero's welcome. While his mother, sister and other activists took part in a silent protest on the 6 October Bridge on Monday to demand the release of all prisoners held in recent demonstrations, Abdel-Fattah said that he was sorry he could not take part “on orders from my lawyers”. Prominent activists sentenced under the protest law and who remain in prison include Ahmed Doma, Ahmed Maher —the founder of 6 April Movement — and 6 April senior member Mohamed Adel. They were summoned for questioning at Abdeen Court by prosecutors on 1 December over charges of taking part in the 27 November demonstration in front of the Shura Council. Hours later they were charged with organising a demonstration that clashed with anti-riot police in front of the court. The three were sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of LE100,000 on 22 December. The court will issue its verdict on their appeal on 7 April. Over 100 activists have also been sentenced to prison terms of up to two years for taking part in unauthorised demonstrations on 25 January, in Cairo and other governorates. Their appeals are pending. Meanwhile, the head of the Lawyers' Syndicate Sameh Ashour has said he will present a new draft protest law to interim President Adly Mansour that limits prison terms and does not conflict with the freedoms guaranteed by the constitution Egyptians approved at a referendum just two months ago.
