Coordinator of 6 April group sentenced to three years in jail

A Cairo misdemeanour court sentenced on Monday the coordinator of the 6 of April Youth Movement Amr Ali to three years in prison and a fine of EGP 500 on charges of illegal protesting and joining a banned group.

Ali, who was arrested in September 2015, can still appeal the court verdict.

Ali was elected as the 6 of April coordinator in October 2013, succeeding its founder and long-time coordinator Ahmed Maher, who is currently serving a three-year jail term on charges of illegal protesting.

In April 2014, the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters banned all activities by the group.

April 6 was established in 2008 to support a strike by textile workers in the industrial city of Mahalla El-Kubra. The strike was a milestone in the mobilisation of activists prior to the January 25 Revolution.

Since the 2013 ouster of president Mohamed Morsi, the movement – which opposes both the Muslim Brotherhood and the post-Morsi government – has been denounced by many Egyptian media outlets.

Ever since the court banned activities by the group, many of its members have been detained and questioned on charges of joining an “illegal group.”

source: Ahram Online