CAIRO: Ahmed Sayed Mohamed, member of the Arab-European Center for Human Rights and International Law in Egypt, was handed down a two-year jail sentence by a military court in Assiut. Mohamed was sentenced on Aug. 3 for inciting people to protest and assaulting the head of the City Council in Dakhla, located in El-Wadi El-Gedid governorate, according to a statement from the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI). Local and international human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned the continued trials of civilians in Egypt's military courts. In the statement, ANHRI said it strongly condemns the continued trials of activists in military courts under false allegations for their efforts in political and democratic reform in Egypt. ANHRI's statement added that this threatens the January 25 Revolution. Mohamed was arrested on June 20 as he was collecting complaints of Dakhla residents who have been protesting at the City Council, the statement said. He has been working on the administrative corruption file in the governorate. Head of the Arab-European Center for Human Rights and International Law, Ehab Gaff, denounced the trial of activists in military courts under false allegation. He said Mohamed was denied the right to a fair trial as witnesses were not allowed to testify, and attributed the arrest to his work in compiling and monitoring administrative corruption in the governorate. Activists campaigning against the military trials of civilians previously met with the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), who promised to reconsider military trials of civilians and to give more authorities to civilian judiciary. In its 68th statement, SCAF cited three conditions under which civilians face military courts: acts of thuggery involving weapons, rape crimes and assaulting security forces while on duty.
