Abdeen Misdemeanor Court sentenced on Sunday political activist Ahmed Doma, founder of April 6 Youth movement Ahmed Maher and movement member Mohamed Adel to three years in prison and a fine of LE50,000 each, on charges of attacking security forces, destruction of public and private facilities and injuring the forces deployed to guard the court.
The prosecution accused the defendants of physically assaulting Central Security recruits in charge of securing Abdeen Court and injuring six of them, in addition to staging a demonstration without notifying security authorities.
Clashes took place in late November when the activists demonstrated in solidarity with Maher who was being interrogated in court over earlier protests against the protest law.
The defendants were demonstrating against the instatement of the new protest law, which requires prior authorization from the Interior Ministry to hold demonstrations. The arrest of these prominent political activists worries human rights groups that the new political establishment is falling further backwards towards the old police state of the Mubarak era, or perhaps worse.
The prosecution said in the previous session that the defendants “do not respect the law, but feel that they are above the law. They could have objected to the law on demonstrations through the Administrative Court [rather that demonstrating against it.]”
The prosecution representative argued that because Doma had asked members of April 6 movement on Facebook to stop the violence, he organized the demonstrations.
The arrest of these prominent political activists has caused human rights groups to worry that the new political establishment is falling further backwards towards the old police state of the Mubarak era, or perhaps towards something worse.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
