The United Kingdom has expressed concerns over the imprisonment of three leading Egyptian political activists who were charged with violating a new law that regulates the right to protest.
On Sunday, a court sentenced political activist Ahmed Doma, founder of April 6 Youth Movement Ahmed Maher and April 6 member Mohamed Adel to three years in prison and a LE50,000 fine each, on charges of attacking security forces, destruction of public and private facilities and injuring police forces.
The prosecution accused the defendants of physically assaulting Central Security personnel who were securing Abdeen Court and injuring six of them. This is in addition to the original charge of staging a demonstration without receiving prior approval.
“I was deeply concerned to hear about the sentencing to three years in prison of the democracy and human rights activists Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohammed Adel," said Mark Simmonds, a minister at the UK’s Foreign Office. “This represents a serious setback to attempts to return Egypt to the democratic path and undermines the values expressed by Egyptians during the Revolution of January 2011. The UK believes the freedom to protest peacefully is vital in any democracy and calls on Egypt’s interim leaders to ensure that they uphold all Egypt’s international human rights obligations."
Clashes erupted in November when activists demonstrated against the new protest law, calling it a measure that suppresses freedom of speech.
Many human rights and opposition groups fear that the new protest law is a big step back on Egypt's democratic roadmap, showing that the country could have regressed to the days of Mubarak's police state or worse.
