The Alexandria Court of Appeal headed by Judge Mohamed Al-Deeb sentenced activist Mahinour Al-Masri to two years in jail and a LE50,000 fine on 20 May following an appeal against a sentence handed down by the Alexandria Criminal Court in January. Al-Masri was sentenced to jail along with six other activists for holding a protest without permission in front of the Alexandria Court, blocking the road, assaulting a police officer and destroying a police vehicle. Al-Masri, arrested on 2 December, was protesting to mark the retrial of the two police officers charged with killing Khaled Said, beaten to death in Alexandria in 2010, whose death had been a catalyst of the 25 January Revolution. The ruling was condemned by 17 human rights organisations along with the European Union (EU), which expressed its concern about the verdict. Among the organisations was the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, the Federation of Egyptian Women, and the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre. The organisations issued a joint statement demanding that the government review its controversial protest law issued in November last year. The law requires protest organisers to notify the authorities at least three days before any demonstration takes place, giving details of the protest's aims and route. Violators risk heavy jail terms and fines. The statement also condemned verdicts based on the law, stating that these targeted activists defending human rights and the freedom of expression. “The law was issued in the absence of a legislative authority. There has been no parliament in session since before the ouster of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi,” the statement read. Due to the protest law, thousands of Islamists and political activists have been arrested for staging protests demanding the annulment of the law that were not notified to the authorities. The government has repeatedly defended the controversial law, stressing its importance for maintaining security and stability in the country. According to the government, the prior notice will help the security forces protect protesters against thugs. A number of high-profile activists have been imprisoned under the law. Last December, the Cairo Criminal Court sentenced founders of the April 6 Youth Movement Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel and independent activist Ahmed Doma to three years in jail and a LE50,000 fine for organising a protest without permission and attacking the security forces outside the Abdeen Court in Cairo. Former presidential candidate Khaled Ali, also director of the Egyptian Centre for Social and Economic Rights and one of the defence team for Al-Masri, told the press that he had joined the defence team despite the threat of a prison term. “Al-Masri took the side of social justice,” Ali said. “She is trying to give us all hope.” “This is not the end of the road. We are going to submit a petition to prosecutor-general Hisham Barakat to re-consider the verdict and to re-try Al-Masri as well as the other imprisoned activists,” Ali said. Meanwhile, Moataz Al-Shennawi, media coordinator of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party (SPAP), denounced the Court's ruling, saying that “the current regime commits massacres against the youth who demonstrated against Egypt's protest law and demanded its abolition. I was disappointed but not surprised by the ruling.” Al-Shennawi called for the suspension of the protest law and said that the interior ministry should be “purged and restructured.” The EU has expressed its concern at the verdict, stating on its website that “the EU is concerned about the imprisonment of Al-Masri along with other activists for peacefully protesting against the protest law that has drawn ample criticism, including from the UN, for not being in accordance with international standards. We wish a solution will soon be found leading to her release as well as that of the other activists sentenced.” On 22 May, several demonstrations were organised in solidarity with those jailed last week. The Freedom for the Brave Movement, which Al-Masri belongs to, issued a statement stating that the security forces had arrested at least five people for holding an illegal protest, among them Alexandria Doctors' Syndicate board member Taher Mokhtar. The movement was formed last January to call for the release of political detainees.
