The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced political activist Ahmed Douma to three years hard labour for being in contempt of the court, during a session of his ongoing trial relating to the "cabinet clashes" in 2011. Douma – a prominent political activist – was also fined EGP 10,000 "for insulting the court" after a tense exchange with the judge. Douma and 268 other defendants in the case are facing charges of attacking the cabinet building and security personnel as well as setting fire to the Scientific Institute in Cairo in 2011. The trial was postponed to 4 February. The 2011 clashes occurred after demonstrators organised a sit-in at the cabinet headquarters protesting the appointment of Kamal El-Ganzoury as prime minister by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF). The military police attempted to disperse the sit-in, resulting in deadly violence which lasted for four days. The trial is being presided over by Judge Nagy Shehata, who handed down 188 death sentences last week, in connection with a deadly attack on Kerdasa's police station in August 2013. Human Rights Watch made a specific reference to the judge, in a statement on this case. In November, Shehata referred two defence lawyers, Ragia Omran and Khaled Ali, to prosecution for disrupting the trial proceedings in separate cases. In June, Shehata sentenced three Al Jazeera English journalists to seven years in jail, with an extra three years for the Egyptian defendant Baher Mohamed for possession of a bullet casing. The trial received global attention and the journalists were sentenced based on evidence that included a pop song, images of one of the defendant's parents, video footage that was unrelated to Egypt, and inaudible sound recordings.
