Rights groups denounce the sentencing of teenage boys to up to 15 years in prison after a 'politically motivated' mass trial
An Egyptian court on Sunday sentenced 22 children to lengthy prison sentences ranging between five and 15 years over rare anti-government protests that took place across the country four years ago.
The verdict also included a life sentence in absentia (25 years) for the exiled businessman and actor Mohamed Ali for leading the calls to protest against the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in 2019.
The first terrorism circuit of the Cairo Criminal Court sentenced 39 people in the same case, known in local media as "The Joker", after a mass trial of 103 people.
The charges brought against the defendants included posting videos on YouTube calling for the protests, and sharing these videos on Facebook and WhatsApp. Other charges included disrupting traffic and using violence against civil servants, such as police officers, to prevent them from carrying out their work.
"The sentence comes as a shock, sending many kids to ten years in prison," said Aya Hijazi, director of the Washington DC-based Belady Centre for Rights and Freedoms.
"There was no real crime. Neither blood nor terrorism. Only a legitimate and legal call to protest," she told Middle East Eye.
قضت محكمة جنايات القاهرة، الدائرة الأولى إرهاب، برئاسة القاضي محمد سعيد الشربيني، بجلسة اليوم الموافق 15 يناير 2023، على 28 طفلاً رفقة السيدة الوحيدة المدرجة على ذمّة القضيّة بأحكام تتراوح...
When a company promises to save the planet by 2050, it sounds reassuring. But what if that promise comes with no real plan, no credible evidence, and no accountability? A sweeping new study reveal...