Anti-Protest Law Activists’ Trial Postponed To 13 September

A Cairo misdemeanour has postponed the trial of 23 defendants charged with violating the protest law to 13 September, Al-Ahram’s Arabic news website reported on Sunday.

The 23 defendants were arrested last week in a protest held to demand an end to a law issued last November banning all demonstrations not pre-approved by the police.

Dozens showed for the protest to march from Al-Haram metro station in Heliopolis towards Ittihadiya presidential palace. However, the protest was dispersed after groups of people threw rocks and glass bottles at the demonstrators.

The defendants include Sana Seif, sister of jailed blogger Alaa Abdel-Fattah, who is currently facing a 15-year prison sentence on similar charges.

Prosecutors in the east Cairo district of Heliopolis referred the 23 defendants to a misdemeanor court.

Egypt’s protest law has been widely condemned by political activists, a number of whom have been jailed under its provisions.

Those serving sentences include prominent campaigners Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel of the April 6 Youth Movement, Ahmed Douma of the Egyptian Popular Current, MahinourEl-Masry of the Revolutionary Socialists and leftist blogger Abdel-Fattah.

Hundreds of Islamists have also been imprisoned on charges of violating the new law.

Source : Ahram online