An Egyptian court on Saturday reduced a sentence for a political activist convicted on charges of assaulting a lawyer in Alexandria in January.
A court had sentenced Hassan Mostafa to 2 years’ imprisonment in March after allegedly attacking the city's deputy prosecutor Ahmed Darweesh during Mansheya Court protests demanding the release of arbritrarily arrested demonstrators.
Mostafa also stood accused of inciting violence and chaos during the January unrest.
Mansheya Misdemeanour Court of Appeals on Saturday reduced the sentence to one year in prison with labour.
Security forces arrested several protesters on 27 January during clashes outside the court. Detainees were accused of thuggery, possession of unlicensed weapons, using force against civil servants and damaging both public and private property.
Human rights group Amnesty International claimed the case was marred by procedural irregularities, condemning the court's refusal to hear all defence witnesses in a statement last month.
“We fear that Hassan Mostafa may be imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and other human rights,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
